nonconscious social behavior: Topics by WorldWideScience.org

Sample records for nonconscious social behavior

Nonconscious processes and health.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheeran, Paschal; Gollwitzer, Peter M; Bargh, John A

2013-05-01

Health behavior theories focus on the role of conscious, reflective factors (e.g., behavioral intentions, risk perceptions) in predicting and changing behavior. Dual-process models, on the other hand, propose that health actions are guided not only by a conscious, reflective, rule-based system but also by a nonconscious, impulsive, associative system. This article argues that research on health decisions, actions, and outcomes will be enriched by greater consideration of nonconscious processes. A narrative review is presented that delineates research on implicit cognition, implicit affect, and implicit motivation. In each case, we describe the key ideas, how they have been taken up in health psychology, and the possibilities for behavior change interventions, before outlining directions that might profitably be taken in future research. Correlational research on implicit cognitive and affective processes (attentional bias and implicit attitudes) has recently been supplemented by intervention studies using implementation intentions and practice-based training that show promising effects. Studies of implicit motivation (health goal priming) have also observed encouraging findings. There is considerable scope for further investigations of implicit affect control, unconscious thought, and the automatization of striving for health goals. Research on nonconscious processes holds significant potential that can and should be developed by health psychologists. Consideration of impulsive as well as reflective processes will engender new targets for intervention and should ultimately enhance the effectiveness of behavior change efforts. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.
Automatic behavior - its social embedding and individual consequences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonas, K.J.

2013-01-01

Automatic behavior, that is, the non-conscious activation of perceiver behavior by social category priming, has undergone considerable development in the recent years. While initial effects pointed to often rather surprising effects that could be characterized as imitation of the behavior of the
Chasing the Rainbow: The Non-conscious Nature of Being

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David A. Oakley

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Despite the compelling subjective experience of executive self-control, we argue that “consciousness” contains no top-down control processes and that “consciousness” involves no executive, causal, or controlling relationship with any of the familiar psychological processes conventionally attributed to it. In our view, psychological processing and psychological products are not under the control of consciousness. In particular, we argue that all “contents of consciousness” are generated by and within non-conscious brain systems in the form of a continuous self-referential personal narrative that is not directed or influenced in any way by the “experience of consciousness.” This continuously updated personal narrative arises from selective “internal broadcasting” of outputs from non-conscious executive systems that have access to all forms of cognitive processing, sensory information, and motor control. The personal narrative provides information for storage in autobiographical memory and is underpinned by constructs of self and agency, also created in non-conscious systems. The experience of consciousness is a passive accompaniment to the non-conscious processes of internal broadcasting and the creation of the personal narrative. In this sense, personal awareness is analogous to the rainbow which accompanies physical processes in the atmosphere but exerts no influence over them. Though it is an end-product created by non-conscious executive systems, the personal narrative serves the powerful evolutionary function of enabling individuals to communicate (externally broadcast the contents of internal broadcasting. This in turn allows recipients to generate potentially adaptive strategies, such as predicting the behavior of others and underlies the development of social and cultural structures, that promote species survival. Consequently, it is the capacity to communicate to others the contents of the personal narrative that
Male and Female Differences in Nonconscious Mimicry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lehane, Christine Marie

2015-01-01

, thus neglecting a discussion regarding the role of sex or gender as a moderator of nonconscious mimicry. This article reviews the research on nonconscious mimicry – facial, behavioural, and verbal, in order to identify whether or not there are male and female differences. The results indicate...... that mimicry may be moderated by participant sex or gender depending upon, among others, choice of mimicry measurement, stimulus exposure length, and social context. However, few studies address male and female differences in mimicry and many have methodological limitations. The review concludes...
Maintenance of non-consciously presented information engages the prefrontal cortex

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Fredrik eBergström

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Conscious processing is generally seen as required for flexible and willful actions, as well as for tasks that require durable information maintenance. Here we present research that questions the assumption that only consciously perceived information is durable (> 500 ms. Using the attentional blink phenomenon, we rendered otherwise relatively clearly perceived letters non-conscious. In a first experiment we systematically manipulated the delay between stimulus presentation and response, for the purpose of estimating the durability of non-conscious perceptual representations. For items reported not seen, we found that behavioral performance was better than chance across intervals up to 15 seconds. In a second experiment we used fMRI to investigate the neural correlates underlying the maintenance of non-conscious perceptual representations. Critically, the relatively long delay period demonstrated in experiment 1 enabled isolation of the signal change specifically related to the maintenance period, separate from stimulus presentation and response. We found sustained BOLD signal change in the right mid-lateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and crus II of the cerebellum during maintenance of non-consciously perceived information. These findings are consistent with the controversial claim that working-memory mechanisms are involved in the short-term maintenance of non-conscious perceptual representations.
Male and Female Differences in Nonconscious Mimicry: A Systematic Review

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Christine M. Lehane

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Previous research on nonconscious mimicry suggests that females mimic their communication partners more often than males. Many studies have investigated the association between mimicry, emotion recognition, and empathy. However, there is a trend in this research area to recruit same-sex samples, thus neglecting a discussion regarding the role of sex or gender as a moderator of nonconscious mimicry. This article reviews the research on nonconscious mimicry – facial, behavioural, and verbal, in order to identify whether or not there are male and female differences. The results indicate that mimicry may be moderated by participant sex or gender depending upon, among others, choice of mimicry measurement, stimulus exposure length, and social context. However, few studies address male and female differences in mimicry and many have methodological limitations. The review concludes with a discussion and recommendations for future research.
Thinking of you: nonconscious pursuit of interpersonal goals associated with relationship partners.

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Fitzsimons, Gráinne M; Bargh, John A

2003-01-01

The mere psychological presence of relationship partners was hypothesized to trigger interpersonal goals that are then pursued nonconsciously. Qualitative data suggested that people tend to pursue different interpersonal goals within different types of relationships (e.g., mother, best friend, coworker). In several studies, priming participants' relationship representations produced goal-directed behavior (achievement, helping, understanding) in line with the previously assessed goal content of those representations. These findings support the hypothesis that interpersonal goals are component features of relationship representations and that mere activation of those representations, even in the partner's physical absence, causes the goals to become active and to guide behavior nonconsciously within the current situation.
An Heuristic Framework for Non-Conscious Reasoning

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Felipe Lara-Rosano

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Human non-conscious reasoning is one of the most successful procedures evolved for the purposes of solving everyday problems in an efficient way. This is why the field of artificial intelligence should analyze, formalize and emulate the multiple ways of non-conscious reasoning with the purpose of applying them in human problem solving tasks, like medical diagnostics and treatments, educational diagnostics and intervention, organizational and political decision making, artificial intelligence knowledge based systems and neurocomputers, automatic control systems and similar devices for aiding people in the problem-solving process. In this paper, a heuristic framework for those non-conscious ways of reasoning is presented based on neurocognitive representations, heuristics, and fuzzy sets.
Conscious and nonconscious memory effects are temporally dissociable.

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Slotnick, Scott D; Schacter, Daniel L

2010-03-01

Intentional (explicit) retrieval can reactivate sensory cortex, which is widely assumed to reflect conscious processing. In the present study, we used an explicit visual memory event-related potential paradigm to investigate whether such retrieval related sensory activity could be separated into conscious and nonconscious components. During study, abstract shapes were presented in the left or right visual field. During test, old and new shapes were presented centrally and participants classified each shape as "old-left", "old-right", or "new". Conscious activity was isolated by comparing accurate memory for shape and location (old-hits) with forgotten shapes (old-misses), and nonconscious activity was isolated by comparing old-left-misses with old-right-misses and vice versa. Conscious visual sensory activity had a late temporal onset (after 800 ms) while nonconscious visual sensory activity had an early temporal onset (before 800 ms). These results suggest explicit memory related sensory activity reflects both conscious and nonconscious processes that are temporally dissociable.
Self-monitoring without awareness: using mimicry as a nonconscious affiliation strategy.

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Cheng, Clara Michelle; Chartrand, Tanya L

2003-12-01

This research sought to extend the current conceptualization of self-monitoring by examining whether self-monitoring motives and behaviors can operate outside of conscious awareness. Two studies examined nonconscious mimicry among high and low self-monitors in situations varying in affiliative cues. Participants interacted with a confederate who shook her foot (Study 1) or touched her face (Study 2). In both studies, high self-monitors were more likely to mimic the confederate's subtle gestures when they believed the confederate to be a peer (Study 1) or someone superior to them (Study 2). Low self-monitors mimicked to the same degree across conditions. Thus, when the situation contains affiliative cues, high self-monitors use mimicry as a nonconscious strategy to get along with their interaction partner.
The influence of nonconscious processes on perceptions of downsizing and terminations.

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Walker, Sean; Karau, Steven

2016-01-01

Although social and cognitive psychologists have developed a large body of research on priming and other nonconscious processes, relatively little research has focused on how these issues influence organizationally relevant phenomena. The current research sought to partially fill this void by examining the influence of nonconscious processes on perceptions of organizational downsizing. In three studies, individuals were primed with traits of self-reliance or employer-reliance either supraliminally (Study 1) or subliminally (Studies 2 and 3). Studies 1 and 2 found that individuals primed with self-reliance had less negative views of downsizing. Experiment 3 found that those primed with self-reliance reported greater perceptions of fair treatment, respect for their boss, and decreased levels of anger in response to a termination scenario. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Evidence of Nonconscious Stereotyping of Hispanic Patients by Nursing and Medical Students

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Bean, Meghan G.; Stone, Jeff; Badger, Terry A.; Focella, Elizabeth S.; Moskowitz, Gordon B.

2013-01-01

Background Current research on nonconscious stereotyping in health care is limited by an emphasis on practicing physicians’ beliefs about African American patients and by heavy reliance on a measure of nonconscious processes that allows participants to exert control over their behavior if they are motivated to appear nonbiased. Objectives The present research examined whether nursing and medical students exhibit nonconscious activation of stereotypes about Hispanic patients using a task that subliminally primes patient ethnicity. It was hypothesized that participants would exhibit greater activation of noncompliance and health risk stereotypes following subliminal exposure to Hispanic faces compared with non-Hispanic White faces and, because ethnicity was primed outside of conscious awareness, that explicit motivations to control prejudice would not moderate stereotype activation. Methods Nursing and medical students completed a sequential priming task that measured the speed with which they recognized words related to noncompliance and health risk following subliminal exposure to Hispanic and non-Hispanic White faces. They then completed explicit measures of their motivation to control prejudice against Hispanics. Results Both nursing and medical students exhibited greater activation of noncompliance and health risk words after subliminal exposure to Hispanic faces, compared with non-Hispanic White faces. Explicit motivations to control prejudice did not moderate stereotype activation. Discussion These findings show that, regardless of their motivation to treat Hispanics fairly, nursing and medical students exhibit nonconscious activation of negative stereotypes when they encounter Hispanics. Implications are discussed. PMID:23995470
On-line social decision making and antisocial behavior: some essential but neglected issues.

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Fontaine, Reid Griffith

2008-01-01

The last quarter century has witnessed considerable progress in the scientific study of social information processing (SIP) and aggressive behavior in children. SIP research has shown that social decision making in youth is particularly predictive of antisocial behavior, especially as children enter and progress through adolescence. In furtherance of this research, more sophisticated, elaborate models of on-line social decision making have been developed, by which various domains of evaluative judgment are hypothesized to account for both responsive decision making and behavior, as well as self-initiated, instrumental functioning. However, discussions of these models have neglected a number of key issues. In particular, the roles of nonconscious cognitive factors, learning and development, impulsivity and behavioral disinhibition, emotion, and other internal and external factors (e.g., pharmacological influences and audience effects) have been largely absent from scholarly writings. In response, this article introduces discussion of these factors and reviews their possible roles in on-line social decision making and antisocial behavior in youth.
When conflicts are good: nonconscious goal conflicts reduce confirmatory thinking.

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Kleiman, Tali; Hassin, Ran R

2013-09-01

In this article, we argue that nonconscious goal conflicts are accompanied by a mindset that has wide-ranging implications for reasoning and thinking in content areas that are not part of the conflict itself. Specifically, we propose that nonconscious goal conflicts induce a mode of processing information that increases the likelihood of approaching an issue from opposing perspectives. This hypothesis is examined by investigating the effects of nonconscious goal conflicts on confirmatory thinking, that is, a way of thinking that narrowly focuses on confirmation rather than on broader examination of information. In 5 experiments, we show that nonconscious goal conflicts significantly reduce confirmatory hypothesis testing (Experiments 1 through 3) and anchoring (Experiments 4 and 5). We further show that these effects result from a goal conflict by rejecting explanations based on priming of semantic opposites, and priming of multiple goals that do not conflict (Experiments 2 and 3), and by examining decision times as a conflict process variable (Experiment 5). Using various probes, we show that these changes in confirmatory judgments are not accompanied by changes in conflict phenomenology. Together, these results suggest that nonconscious goal conflicts attenuate the robust confirmatory thinking strategy that characterizes human thinking in numerous domains.
Thinking of You: Nonconscious Pursuit of Interpersonal Goals Associated With Relationship Partners

OpenAIRE

Fitzsimons, Gráinne M.; Bargh, John A.

2003-01-01

The mere psychological presence of relationship partners was hypothesized to trigger interpersonal goals that are then pursued nonconsciously. Qualitative data suggested that people tend to pursue different interpersonal goals within different types of relationships (e.g., mother, best friend, coworker). In several studies, priming participants’ relationship representations produced goal-directed behavior (achievement, helping, understanding) in line with the previously assessed goal content ...
Repetition Enhancement of Amygdala and Visual Cortex Functional Connectivity Reflects Nonconscious Memory for Negative Visual Stimuli.

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Kark, Sarah M; Slotnick, Scott D; Kensinger, Elizabeth A

2016-12-01

Most studies using a recognition memory paradigm examine the neural processes that support the ability to consciously recognize past events. However, there can also be nonconscious influences from the prior study episode that reflect repetition suppression effects-a reduction in the magnitude of activity for repeated presentations of stimuli-that are revealed by comparing neural activity associated with forgotten items to correctly rejected novel items. The present fMRI study examined the effect of emotional valence (positive vs. negative) on repetition suppression effects. Using a standard recognition memory task, 24 participants viewed line drawings of previously studied negative, positive, and neutral photos intermixed with novel line drawings. For each item, participants made an old-new recognition judgment and a sure-unsure confidence rating. Collapsed across valence, repetition suppression effects were found in ventral occipital-temporal cortex and frontal regions. Activity levels in the majority of these regions were not modulated by valence. However, repetition enhancement of the amygdala and ventral occipital-temporal cortex functional connectivity reflected nonconscious memory for negative items. In this study, valence had little effect on activation patterns but had a larger effect on functional connectivity patterns that were markers of nonconscious memory. Beyond memory and emotion, these findings are relevant to other cognitive and social neuroscientists that utilize fMRI repetition effects to investigate perception, attention, social cognition, and other forms of learning and memory.
Non-Conscious vs. Deliberate Dynamic Decision-Making—A Pilot Experiment

OpenAIRE

Andreas Größler; Etiënne Rouwette; Jac Vennix

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of non-conscious vs. deliberate ways of making decisions in a dynamic decision-making task. An experimental setting is used to study this question; three experimental groups are distinguished: immediate decision-making (only very limited time for deliberate cognitive processing), considerate decision-making (relatively long time for deliberate cognitive processing), and distracted decision-making (time for non-conscious cognitive processing ...
Non-conscious vs. deliberate dynamic decision-making—a pilot experiment

OpenAIRE

Grössler, A.; Rouwette, E.A.J.A.; Vennix, J.A.M.; Größler, A.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of non-conscious vs. deliberate ways of making decisions in a dynamic decision-making task. An experimental setting is used to study this question; three experimental groups are distinguished: immediate decision-making (only very limited time for deliberate cognitive processing), considerate decision-making (relatively long time for deliberate cognitive processing), and distracted decision-making (time for non-conscious cognitive processing ...
The role of risk aversion in non-conscious decision making.

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Wang, Shuo; Krajbich, Ian; Adolphs, Ralph; Tsuchiya, Naotsugu

2012-01-01

To what extent can people choose advantageously without knowing why they are making those choices? This hotly debated question has capitalized on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), in which people often learn to choose advantageously without appearing to know why. However, because the IGT is unconstrained in many respects, this finding remains debated and other interpretations are possible (e.g., risk aversion, ambiguity aversion, limits of working memory, or insensitivity to reward/punishment can explain the finding of the IGT). Here we devised an improved variant of the IGT in which the deck-payoff contingency switches after subjects repeatedly choose from a good deck, offering the statistical power of repeated within-subject measures based on learning the reward contingencies associated with each deck. We found that participants exhibited low confidence in their choices, as probed with post-decision wagering, despite high accuracy in selecting advantageous decks in the task, which is putative evidence for non-conscious decision making. However, such a behavioral dissociation could also be explained by risk aversion, a tendency to avoid risky decisions under uncertainty. By explicitly measuring risk aversion for each individual, we predicted subjects' post-decision wagering using Bayesian modeling. We found that risk aversion indeed does play a role, but that it did not explain the entire effect. Moreover, independently measured risk aversion was uncorrelated with risk aversion exhibited during our version of the IGT, raising the possibility that the latter risk aversion may be non-conscious. Our findings support the idea that people can make optimal choices without being fully aware of the basis of their decision. We suggest that non-conscious decision making may be mediated by emotional feelings of risk that are based on mechanisms distinct from those that support cognitive assessment of risk.
Spatial Attention Effects during Conscious and Nonconscious Processing of Visual Features and Objects

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Tapia, Evelina; Breitmeyer, Bruno G.; Jacob, Jane; Broyles, Elizabeth C.

2013-01-01

Flanker congruency effects were measured in a masked flanker task to assess the properties of spatial attention during conscious and nonconscious processing of form, color, and conjunctions of these features. We found that (1) consciously and nonconsciously processed colored shape distractors (i.e., flankers) produce flanker congruency effects;…

Learning and Recognition of a Non-conscious Sequence of Events in Human Primary Visual Cortex.

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Rosenthal, Clive R; Andrews, Samantha K; Antoniades, Chrystalina A; Kennard, Christopher; Soto, David

2016-03-21

Human primary visual cortex (V1) has long been associated with learning simple low-level visual discriminations [1] and is classically considered outside of neural systems that support high-level cognitive behavior in contexts that differ from the original conditions of learning, such as recognition memory [2, 3]. Here, we used a novel fMRI-based dichoptic masking protocol-designed to induce activity in V1, without modulation from visual awareness-to test whether human V1 is implicated in human observers rapidly learning and then later (15-20 min) recognizing a non-conscious and complex (second-order) visuospatial sequence. Learning was associated with a change in V1 activity, as part of a temporo-occipital and basal ganglia network, which is at variance with the cortico-cerebellar network identified in prior studies of "implicit" sequence learning that involved motor responses and visible stimuli (e.g., [4]). Recognition memory was associated with V1 activity, as part of a temporo-occipital network involving the hippocampus, under conditions that were not imputable to mechanisms associated with conscious retrieval. Notably, the V1 responses during learning and recognition separately predicted non-conscious recognition memory, and functional coupling between V1 and the hippocampus was enhanced for old retrieval cues. The results provide a basis for novel hypotheses about the signals that can drive recognition memory, because these data (1) identify human V1 with a memory network that can code complex associative serial visuospatial information and support later non-conscious recognition memory-guided behavior (cf. [5]) and (2) align with mouse models of experience-dependent V1 plasticity in learning and memory [6]. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
I Don't Know It but I Like You: The Influence of Nonconscious Affect on Person Perception.

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Monahan, Jennifer L.

1998-01-01

Proposes a model of unconscious affect. Tests predictions about the influence of nonconscious affect on evaluations made of undergraduate student conversational interactants. Uses a subliminal priming task to induce a positive nonconscious affective response toward the target persons. Rates primed target as more likable and attractive yet not more…
Implicit Processes, Self-Regulation, and Interventions for Behavior Change.

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St Quinton, Tom; Brunton, Julie A

2017-01-01

The ability to regulate and subsequently change behavior is influenced by both reflective and implicit processes. Traditional theories have focused on conscious processes by highlighting the beliefs and intentions that influence decision making. However, their success in changing behavior has been modest with a gap between intention and behavior apparent. Dual-process models have been recently applied to health psychology; with numerous models incorporating implicit processes that influence behavior as well as the more common conscious processes. Such implicit processes are theorized to govern behavior non-consciously. The article provides a commentary on motivational and volitional processes and how interventions have combined to attempt an increase in positive health behaviors. Following this, non-conscious processes are discussed in terms of their theoretical underpinning. The article will then highlight how these processes have been measured and will then discuss the different ways that the non-conscious and conscious may interact. The development of interventions manipulating both processes may well prove crucial in successfully altering behavior.
Non-conscious vs. deliberate dynamic decision-making—a pilot experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grössler, A.; Rouwette, E.A.J.A.; Vennix, J.A.M.; Größler, A.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of non-conscious vs. deliberate ways of making decisions in a dynamic decision-making task. An experimental setting is used to study this question; three experimental groups are distinguished: immediate decision-making (only very limited time for
Non-Conscious vs. Deliberate Dynamic Decision-Making—A Pilot Experiment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Größler

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of non-conscious vs. deliberate ways of making decisions in a dynamic decision-making task. An experimental setting is used to study this question; three experimental groups are distinguished: immediate decision-making (only very limited time for deliberate cognitive processing, considerate decision-making (relatively long time for deliberate cognitive processing, and distracted decision-making (time for non-conscious cognitive processing only. As experimental stimulus, a simulator based on the Kaibab Plateau model was employed. With a sample size of more than 100 experimental participants, group differences are not significant for most data examined. Implications comprise the formulation of a framework to guide further research. The value of this paper lies in the fact that it connects to a recent discussion in psychology and transfers it to a domain in the core interest of the system community: decision-making in situations with dynamic complexity. Furthermore, it offers a range of improvement points for potential follow-up studies.
Health Disparities among LGBT Older Adults and the Role of Nonconscious Bias.

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Foglia, Mary Beth; Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen I

2014-09-01

This paper describes the significance of key empirical findings from the recent and landmark study Caring and Aging with Pride: The National Health, Aging and Sexuality Study (with Karen I. Fredriksen-Goldsen as the principal investigator), on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender aging and health disparities. We will illustrate these findings with select quotations from study participants and show how nonconscious bias (i.e., activation of negative stereotypes outside conscious awareness) in the clinical encounter and health care setting can threaten shared decision-making and perpetuate health disparities among LGBT older adults. We recognize that clinical ethicists are not immune from nonconscious bias but maintain that they are well situated to recognize bias and resulting injustice by virtue of their training. Further, we discuss how clinical ethicists can influence the organization's ethical culture and environment to improve the quality and acceptability of health care for LGBT older adults. © 2014 by The Hastings Center.
Spatial frequency tuning during the conscious and non-conscious perception of emotional facial expressions—an intracranial ERP study

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Verena eWillenbockel

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that complex visual stimuli, such as emotional facial expressions, can influence brain activity independently of the observers’ awareness. Little is known yet, however, about the informational correlates of consciousness—i.e., which low-level information correlates with brain activation during conscious vs. non-conscious perception. Here, we investigated this question in the spatial frequency (SF domain. We examined which SFs in disgusted and fearful facial expressions modulate activation in the insula and amygdala over time and as a function of awareness, using a combination of intracranial event-related potentials (ERPs, SF Bubbles (Willenbockel et al., 2010a, and Continuous Flash Suppression (CFS; Tsuchiya and Koch, 2005. Patients implanted with electrodes for epilepsy monitoring viewed face photographs (13° x 7° that were randomly SF filtered trial-by-trial. In the conscious condition, the faces were visible; in the non-conscious condition, they were rendered invisible using CFS. Data were analyzed by performing multiple linear regressions on the SF filters from each trial and the transformed ERP amplitudes across time. The resulting classification images suggest that many SFs are involved in the conscious and non-conscious perception of emotional expressions, with those between 6 and 10 cycles per face width being particularly important early on. The results also revealed qualitative differences between the awareness conditions for both regions. Non-conscious processing relied on low SFs more and was faster than conscious processing. Overall, our findings are consistent with the idea that different pathways are employed for the processing of emotional stimuli under different degrees of awareness. The present study represents a first step to mapping with a high temporal resolution how SF information flows through the emotion-processing network and to shedding light on the informational correlates of
Can false memories be created through nonconscious processes?

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Zeelenberg, René; Plomp, Gijs; Raaijmakers, Jeroen G W

2003-09-01

Presentation times of study words presented in the Deese/Roediger and McDermott (DRM) paradigm varied from 20 to 2000 ms per word in an attempt to replicate the false memory effect following extremely short presentations reported by. Both in a within-subjects design (Experiment 1) and in a between-subjects design (Experiment 2) subjects showed memory for studied words as well as a false memory effect for related critical lures in the 2000-ms condition. However, in the conditions with shorter presentation times (20 ms in Experiment 1; 20 and 40 ms in Experiment 2) no memory for studied words, nor a false memory effect was found. We argue that there is at present no strong evidence supporting the claim for a nonconscious basis of the false memory effect.
Nonconscious Influences from Emotional Faces: A Comparison of Visual Crowding, Masking, and Continuous Flash Suppression

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Nathan eFaivre

2012-05-01

Full Text Available In the study of nonconscious processing, different methods have been used in order to renderstimuli invisible. While their properties are well described, the level at which they disruptnonconscious processing remains unclear. Yet, such accurate estimation of the depth ofnonconscious processes is crucial for a clear differentiation between conscious and nonconsciouscognition. Here, we compared the processing of facial expressions rendered invisible through gazecontingentcrowding (GCC, masking, and continuous flash suppression (CFS, three techniquesrelying on different properties of the visual system. We found that both pictures and videos of happyfaces suppressed from awareness by GCC were processed such as to bias subsequent preferencejudgments. The same stimuli manipulated with visual masking and CFS did not bias significantlypreference judgments, although they were processed such as to elicit perceptual priming. Asignificant difference in preference bias was found between GCC and CFS, but not between GCCand masking. These results provide new insights regarding the nonconscious impact of emotionalfeatures, and highlight the need for rigorous comparisons between the different methods employedto prevent perceptual awareness.
Non-conscious visual cues related to affect and action alter perception of effort and endurance performance

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Anthony William Blanchfield

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The psychobiological model of endurance performance proposes that endurance performance is determined by a decision-making process based on perception of effort and potential motivation. Recent research has reported that effort-based decision-making during cognitive tasks can be altered by non-conscious visual cues relating to affect and action. The effect of these non-conscious visual cues on effort and performance during physical tasks is however unknown. We report two experiments investigating the effect of subliminal priming with visual cues related to affect and action on perception of effort and endurance performance. In Experiment 1 thirteen individuals were subliminally primed with happy or sad faces as they cycled to exhaustion in a counterbalanced and randomized crossover design. A paired t-test (happy vs. sad faces revealed that individuals cycled for significantly longer (178 s, p = .04 when subliminally primed with happy faces. A 2 x 5 (condition x iso-time ANOVA also revealed a significant main effect of condition on rating of perceived exertion (RPE during the time to exhaustion (TTE test with lower RPE when subjects were subliminally primed with happy faces (p = .04. In Experiment 2, a single-subject randomization tests design found that subliminal priming with action words facilitated a significantly longer (399 s, p = .04 TTE in comparison to inaction words (p = .04. Like Experiment 1, this greater TTE was accompanied by a significantly lower RPE (p = .03. These experiments are the first to show that subliminal visual cues relating to affect and action can alter perception of effort and endurance performance. Non-conscious visual cues may therefore influence the effort-based decision-making process that is proposed to determine endurance performance. Accordingly, the findings raise notable implications for individuals who may encounter such visual cues during endurance competitions, training, or health related exercise.
The Double Meaning of Online Social Space: Three-Way Interactions Among Social Anxiety, Online Social Behavior, and Offline Social Behavior.

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Koo, Hoon Jung; Woo, Sungbum; Yang, Eunjoo; Kwon, Jung Hye

2015-09-01

The present study aimed to investigate how online and offline social behavior interact with each other ultimately to affect the well-being of socially anxious adolescents. Based on previous studies, it was assumed that there might be three-way interactive effects among online social behavior, offline social behavior, and social anxiety regarding the relationship with well-being. To measure social anxiety, online and offline social behavior, and mental well-being, self-report questionnaires such as the Korean-Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, Korean version of the Relational Maintenance Behavior Questionnaire, and Korean version of Mental Health Continuum Short Form were administered to 656 Korean adolescents. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the three-way interaction of online social behavior, offline social behavior, and social anxiety was indeed significant. First, online social behavior was associated with lower well-being of adolescents with higher social anxiety under conditions of low engagement in offline social behavior. In contrast, a higher level of online social behavior predicted greater well-being for individuals with high social anxiety under conditions of more engagement in offline social behavior. Second, online social behavior was not significantly related to well-being in youths with low social anxiety under conditions of both high and low engagement in offline social behavior. Implications and limitations of this study were discussed.
Social memory, social stress, and economic behaviors

OpenAIRE

Taiki Takahashi

2005-01-01

Social memory plays a pivotal role in social behaviors, from mating behaviors to cooperative behaviors based on reciprocal altruism. More specifically, social/person recognition memory is supposed, by behavioral-economic and game-theoretic analysis, to be required for tit- for-tat like cooperative behaviors to evolve under the N-person iterated prisoner fs dilemma game condition. Meanwhile, humans are known to show a social stress response during face-to-face social interactions, which might ...
Non-Conscious Effect of Food Odors on Children’s Food Choices Varies by Weight Status

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Lucile Marty

2017-05-01

Full Text Available ObjectiveFood cues are omnipresent in the daily environment and may influence eating behavior even non-consciously. An increased reactivity to food cues, such as food odors, has been shown to be correlated with obesity in children. The objective of this study is to investigate whether the non-conscious influence of food odors on children’s food choices varies by their weight status.MethodsSeventy-four children, of whom 29 were obese, took part in this study. The children performed a food choice intention task presented as a computer game in which 30 pairs of food images (a fatty-sweet food picture vs. a fruit picture successively appeared on the screen. The children had to choose the item “they most wanted to eat at the present moment” for each pair. While performing this task, the children wore a headset in which the microphone foam was odorized with a fruity odor, a fatty-sweet odor or no odor. They performed the intention task three times, one time for each olfactory condition. The odors were non-attentively perceived, i.e., none of the children were aware of the odorization of the microphone foams. The modeled probability is the probability to choose a fruit.ResultsIn children with obesity, the fruity odor increased the likelihood of a fruit to be chosen compared to the no-odor condition [OR (95% CL = 1.42 (1.13–1.78, P = 0.0028], while the fatty-sweet odor had no effect on food choice [OR (95% CL = 1.07 (0.85–1.36, P = 0.55]. In children without obesity, both the fruity and the fatty-sweet odors decreased the likelihood to choose a fruit compared to the no-odor condition [OR (95% CL = 0.76 (0.64–0.90, P = 0.0015, for the fruity odor and OR (95% CL = 0.79 (0.66–0.93, P = 0.0062, for the fatty-sweet odor].ConclusionThe different patterns of results obtained in both groups of children suggest differences in the mental representations activated by non-attentively perceived olfactory cues based on
Classification of group behaviors in social media via social behavior grammars

Science.gov (United States)

Levchuk, Georgiy; Getoor, Lise; Smith, Marc

2014-06-01

The increasing use of online collaboration and information sharing in the last decade has resulted in explosion of criminal and anti-social activities in online communities. Detection of such behaviors are of interest to commercial enterprises who want to guard themselves from cyber criminals, and the military intelligence analysts who desire to detect and counteract cyberwars waged by adversarial states and organizations. The most challenging behaviors to detect are those involving multiple individuals who share actions and roles in the hostile activities and individually appear benign. To detect these behaviors, the theories of group behaviors and interactions must be developed. In this paper we describe our exploration of the data from collaborative social platform to categorize the behaviors of multiple individuals. We applied graph matching algorithms to explore consistent social interactions. Our research led us to a conclusion that complex collaborative behaviors can be modeled and detected using a concept of group behavior grammars, in a manner analogous to natural language processing. These grammars capture constraints on how people take on roles in virtual environments, form groups, and interact over time, providing the building blocks for scalable and accurate multi-entity interaction analysis and social behavior hypothesis testing.
Towards environmentally sustainable human behaviour: targeting non-conscious and conscious processes for effective and acceptable policies.

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Marteau, Theresa M

2017-06-13

Meeting climate change targets to limit global warming to 2°C requires rapid and large reductions in demand for products that most contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These include production of bulk materials (e.g. steel and cement), energy supply (e.g. fossil fuels) and animal source foods (particularly ruminants and their products). Effective strategies to meet these targets require transformative changes in supply as well as demand, involving changes in economic, political and legal systems at local, national and international levels, building on evidence from many disciplines. This paper outlines contributions from behavioural science in reducing demand. Grounded in dual-process models of human behaviour (involving non-conscious and conscious processes) this paper considers first why interventions aimed at changing population values towards the environment are usually insufficient or unnecessary for reducing demand although they may be important in increasing public acceptability of policies that could reduce demand. It then outlines two sets of evidence from behavioural science towards effective systems-based strategies, to identify interventions likely to be effective at: (i) reducing demand for products that contribute most to GHG emissions, mainly targeting non-conscious processes and (ii) increasing public acceptability for policy changes to enable these interventions, targeting conscious processes.This article is part of the themed issue 'Material demand reduction'. © 2017 The Authors.
Towards environmentally sustainable human behaviour: targeting non-conscious and conscious processes for effective and acceptable policies

Science.gov (United States)

Marteau, Theresa M.

2017-05-01

Meeting climate change targets to limit global warming to 2°C requires rapid and large reductions in demand for products that most contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These include production of bulk materials (e.g. steel and cement), energy supply (e.g. fossil fuels) and animal source foods (particularly ruminants and their products). Effective strategies to meet these targets require transformative changes in supply as well as demand, involving changes in economic, political and legal systems at local, national and international levels, building on evidence from many disciplines. This paper outlines contributions from behavioural science in reducing demand. Grounded in dual-process models of human behaviour (involving non-conscious and conscious processes) this paper considers first why interventions aimed at changing population values towards the environment are usually insufficient or unnecessary for reducing demand although they may be important in increasing public acceptability of policies that could reduce demand. It then outlines two sets of evidence from behavioural science towards effective systems-based strategies, to identify interventions likely to be effective at: (i) reducing demand for products that contribute most to GHG emissions, mainly targeting non-conscious processes and (ii) increasing public acceptability for policy changes to enable these interventions, targeting conscious processes. This article is part of the themed issue 'Material demand reduction'.
Towards environmentally sustainable human behaviour: targeting non-conscious and conscious processes for effective and acceptable policies

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

Meeting climate change targets to limit global warming to 2°C requires rapid and large reductions in demand for products that most contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These include production of bulk materials (e.g. steel and cement), energy supply (e.g. fossil fuels) and animal source foods (particularly ruminants and their products). Effective strategies to meet these targets require transformative changes in supply as well as demand, involving changes in economic, political and legal systems at local, national and international levels, building on evidence from many disciplines. This paper outlines contributions from behavioural science in reducing demand. Grounded in dual-process models of human behaviour (involving non-conscious and conscious processes) this paper considers first why interventions aimed at changing population values towards the environment are usually insufficient or unnecessary for reducing demand although they may be important in increasing public acceptability of policies that could reduce demand. It then outlines two sets of evidence from behavioural science towards effective systems-based strategies, to identify interventions likely to be effective at: (i) reducing demand for products that contribute most to GHG emissions, mainly targeting non-conscious processes and (ii) increasing public acceptability for policy changes to enable these interventions, targeting conscious processes. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Material demand reduction’. PMID:28461435
Genes and Social Behavior

OpenAIRE

Robinson, Gene E.; Fernald, Russell D.; Clayton, David F.

2008-01-01

What specific genes and regulatory sequences contribute to the organization and functioning of brain circuits that support social behavior? How does social experience interact with information in the genome to modulate these brain circuits? Here we address these questions by highlighting progress that has been made in identifying and understanding two key “vectors of influence” that link genes, brain, and social behavior: 1) social information alters gene readout in the brain to influence beh...
Social carry-over effects on non-social behavioral variation: mechanisms and consequences

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Petri Toivo Niemelä

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The field of animal personality is interested in decomposing behaviors into different levels of variation, with its present focus on the ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of expressed variation. Recently the role of the social environment, i.e. social partners, has been suggested to affect behavioral variation and induce selection on animal personality. Social partner effects exist because characters of social partners (e.g. size, behavior, affect the behavioral expression of a focal individual. Here, we 1 first review the proximate mechanisms underlying the social partner effects on behavioral expression and the timescales at which such effects might take place. We then 2 discuss how within- and among-individual variation in single behaviors and covariation between multiple behaviors, caused by social partners, can carry-over to non-social behaviors expressed outside the social context. Finally, we 3 highlight evolutionary consequences of social carry-over effects to non-social behaviors and 4 suggest study designs and statistical approaches which can be applied to study the nature and evolutionary consequences of social carry-over effects on non-social behaviors. Understanding the proximate mechanisms underpinning the social partner effects is important since it opens a door for deeper understanding of how social environments can affect behavioral variation and covariation at multiple levels, and the evolution of non-social behaviors (i.e. exploration, activity, boldness that are affected by social interactions.
Sniffing behavior communicates social hierarchy.

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Wesson, Daniel W

2013-04-08

Sniffing is a specialized respiratory behavior that is essential for the acquisition of odors [1-4]. Perhaps not independent of this, sniffing is commonly displayed during motivated [5-7] and social behaviors [8, 9]. No measures of sniffing among interacting animals are available, however, calling into question the utility of this behavior in the social context. From radiotelemetry recordings of nasal respiration, I found that investigation by one rat toward the facial region of a conspecific often elicits a decrease in sniffing frequency in the conspecific. This reciprocal display of sniffing was found to be dependent upon the rat's social status in two separate paradigms, with subordinates reliably decreasing their sniffing frequency upon being investigated in the face by dominant rats. Failure of subordinates to decrease their sniffing frequency shortened the latency for agonistic behavior by dominant rats, reflecting that decreases in sniffing serve as appeasement signals during social interactions. Rats rendered unable to smell persisted in displaying reciprocal sniffing behavior, demonstrating the independence of this behavior from olfaction. Oxytocin treatment in rats with established social hierarchies abolished agonistic behaviors and reciprocal sniffing displays. Together, these findings demonstrate that rodents utilize sniffing behaviors communicatively, not only to collect [6, 10-14] but also to convey information. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The porous boundaries between explicit and implicit memory: behavioral and neural evidence.

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Dew, Ilana T Z; Cabeza, Roberto

2011-04-01

Explicit memory refers to the conscious retrieval of past information or experiences, whereas implicit memory refers to an unintentional or nonconscious form of retrieval. Much of the literature in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience has focused on differences between explicit and implicit memory, and the traditional view is that they rely on distinct brain systems. However, the potential interplay between implicit and explicit memory is not always clear. This review draws from behavioral and functional neuroimaging evidence to evaluate three areas in which implicit and explicit memory may be interrelated. First, we discuss views of familiarity-based recognition in terms of its relationship with implicit memory. Second, we review the challenges of distinguishing between implicit memory and involuntary aware memory, at both behavioral and neural levels. Finally, we examine evidence indicating that implicit and explicit retrieval of relational information may rely on a common neural mechanism. Taken together, these areas indicate that, under certain circumstances, there may be an important and influential relationship between conscious and nonconscious expressions of memory. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences.
Social behavior in the "Age of Empathy"?-A social scientist's perspective on current trends in the behavioral sciences.

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Matusall, Svenja

2013-01-01

Recently, several behavioral sciences became increasingly interested in investigating biological and evolutionary foundations of (human) social behavior. In this light, prosocial behavior is seen as a core element of human nature. A central role within this perspective plays the "social brain" that is not only able to communicate with the environment but rather to interact directly with other brains via neuronal mind reading capacities such as empathy. From the perspective of a sociologist, this paper investigates what "social" means in contemporary behavioral and particularly brain sciences. It will be discussed what "social" means in the light of social neuroscience and a glance into the history of social psychology and the brain sciences will show that two thought traditions come together in social neuroscience, combining an individualistic and an evolutionary notion of the "social." The paper concludes by situating current research on prosocial behavior in broader social discourses about sociality and society, suggesting that to naturalize prosocial aspects in human life is a current trend in today's behavioral sciences and beyond.
Neural Circuit Mechanisms of Social Behavior.

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Chen, Patrick; Hong, Weizhe

2018-04-04

We live in a world that is largely socially constructed, and we are constantly involved in and fundamentally influenced by a broad array of complex social interactions. Social behaviors among conspecifics, either conflictive or cooperative, are exhibited by all sexually reproducing animal species and are essential for the health, survival, and reproduction of animals. Conversely, impairment in social function is a prominent feature of several neuropsychiatric disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. Despite the importance of social behaviors, many fundamental questions remain unanswered. How is social sensory information processed and integrated in the nervous system? How are different social behavioral decisions selected and modulated in brain circuits? Here we discuss conceptual issues and recent advances in our understanding of brain regions and neural circuit mechanisms underlying the regulation of social behaviors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Thinking Socially: Teaching Social Knowledge to Foster Social Behavioral Change

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Crooke, Pamela J.; Winner, Michelle Garcia; Olswang, Lesley B.

2016-01-01

This article addresses the complexity of what it means to "be social" from the perspective of social thinking. This perspective recognizes social cognitive processing abilities as the foundation for social knowledge and, in turn, social behaviors. The article further describes variables that influence how one understands how to do what…
Adapting Behavioral Interventions for Social Media Delivery

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Waring, Molly E; May, Christine N; Ding, Eric Y; Kunz, Werner H; Hayes, Rashelle; Oleski, Jessica L

2016-01-01

Patients are increasingly using online social networks (ie, social media) to connect with other patients and health care professionals—a trend called peer-to-peer health care. Because online social networks provide a means for health care professionals to communicate with patients, and for patients to communicate with each other, an opportunity exists to use social media as a modality to deliver behavioral interventions. Social media-delivered behavioral interventions have the potential to reduce the expense of behavioral interventions by eliminating visits, as well as increase our access to patients by becoming embedded in their social media feeds. Trials of online social network-delivered behavioral interventions have shown promise, but much is unknown about intervention development and methodology. In this paper, we discuss the process by which investigators can translate behavioral interventions for social media delivery. We present a model that describes the steps and decision points in this process, including the necessary training and reporting requirements. We also discuss issues pertinent to social media-delivered interventions, including cost, scalability, and privacy. Finally, we identify areas of research that are needed to optimize this emerging behavioral intervention modality. PMID:26825969
Adapting Behavioral Interventions for Social Media Delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Pagoto, Sherry; Waring, Molly E; May, Christine N; Ding, Eric Y; Kunz, Werner H; Hayes, Rashelle; Oleski, Jessica L

2016-01-29

Patients are increasingly using online social networks (ie, social media) to connect with other patients and health care professionals--a trend called peer-to-peer health care. Because online social networks provide a means for health care professionals to communicate with patients, and for patients to communicate with each other, an opportunity exists to use social media as a modality to deliver behavioral interventions. Social media-delivered behavioral interventions have the potential to reduce the expense of behavioral interventions by eliminating visits, as well as increase our access to patients by becoming embedded in their social media feeds. Trials of online social network-delivered behavioral interventions have shown promise, but much is unknown about intervention development and methodology. In this paper, we discuss the process by which investigators can translate behavioral interventions for social media delivery. We present a model that describes the steps and decision points in this process, including the necessary training and reporting requirements. We also discuss issues pertinent to social media-delivered interventions, including cost, scalability, and privacy. Finally, we identify areas of research that are needed to optimize this emerging behavioral intervention modality.
Transgenerational Social Stress, Immune Factors, Hormones, and Social Behavior

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Christopher Anthony Murgatroyd

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A social signal transduction theory of depression has been proposed that states that exposure to social adversity alters the immune response and these changes mediate symptoms of depression such as anhedonia and impairments in social behavior. The exposure of maternal rats to the chronic social stress (CSS of a male intruder depresses maternal care and impairs social behavior in the F1 and F2 offspring of these dams. The objective of the present study was to characterize basal peripheral levels of several immune factors and related hormone levels in the adult F2 offspring of CSS exposed dams and assess whether changes in these factors are associated with previously reported deficits in allogrooming behavior. CSS decreased acid glycoprotein (α1AGP and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1 in F2 females, and increased granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF in F2 males. There were also sex dependent changes in IL-18, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF. Progesterone was decreased and alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH was increased in F2 males, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF was decreased in F2 females. Changes in α1AGP, GM-CSF, progesterone and α-MSH were correlated with decreased allogrooming in the F2 offspring of stressed dams. These results support the hypothesis that transgenerational social stress affects both the immune system and social behavior, and also support previous studies on the adverse effects of early life stress on immune functioning and stress associated immunological disorders, including the increasing prevalence of asthma. The immune system may represent an important transgenerational etiological factor in disorders which involve social and/or early life stress associated changes in social behavior, such as depression, anxiety, and autism, as well as comorbid immune disorders. Future studies involving immune and
Social priming increases nonverbal expressive behaviors in schizophrenia.

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Jonathan Del-Monte

Full Text Available Semantic priming tasks are classically used to influence and implicitly promote target behaviors. Recently, several studies have demonstrated that prosocial semantic priming modulated feelings of social affiliation. The main aim of this study was to determine whether inducing feelings of social affiliation using priming tasks could modulate nonverbal social behaviors in schizophrenia. We used the Scrambled Sentence Task to prime schizophrenia patients according to three priming group conditions: pro-social, non-social or anti-social. Forty-five schizophrenia patients, diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR, were randomly assigned to one of the three priming groups of 15 participants. We evaluated nonverbal social behaviors using the Motor-Affective subscale of the Motor-Affective-Social-Scale. Results showed that schizophrenia patients with pro-social priming had significantly more nonverbal behaviors than schizophrenia patients with anti-social and non-social priming conditions. Schizophrenia patient behaviors are affected by social priming. Our results have several clinical implications for the rehabilitation of social skills impairments frequently encountered among individuals with schizophrenia.
Stress, social behavior, and resilience: Insights from rodents

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Beery, Annaliese K.; Kaufer, Daniela

2014-01-01

The neurobiology of stress and the neurobiology of social behavior are deeply intertwined. The social environment interacts with stress on almost every front: social interactions can be potent stressors; they can buffer the response to an external stressor; and social behavior often changes in response to stressful life experience. This review explores mechanistic and behavioral links between stress, anxiety, resilience, and social behavior in rodents, with particular attention to different social contexts. We consider variation between several different rodent species and make connections to research on humans and non-human primates. PMID:25562050
Supporting the self-regulatory resource: does conscious self-regulation incidentally prime nonconscious support processes?

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Dorris, Derek C

2009-11-01

Ego-depletion (depletion of self-regulatory strength) can impair conscious efforts at self-regulation. Research into nonconscious self-regulation has demonstrated that preconscious automaticity and implementation intentions can automatically carry out regulatory tasks during times of ego-depletion. However, preconscious automaticity can only emerge during well-practiced tasks while implementation intentions can only support tasks that have been explicitly planned. Thus, when it comes to supporting the conscious self-regulation of nonroutine and unplanned behaviour during times of ego-depletion these processes should be ineffective. However, it is argued here that because the conscious self-regulation of nonroutine and unplanned behaviour can incidentally prime the underlying mental representations those primed representations can be postconsciously re-activated to support that behaviour during times of ego-depletion. Postconscious self-regulation might, therefore, support a type of self-regulatory behaviour that has, thus far, not been associated with any form of support.
Dynamic Socialized Gaussian Process Models for Human Behavior Prediction in a Health Social Network

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Shen, Yelong; Phan, NhatHai; Xiao, Xiao; Jin, Ruoming; Sun, Junfeng; Piniewski, Brigitte; Kil, David; Dou, Dejing

2016-01-01

Modeling and predicting human behaviors, such as the level and intensity of physical activity, is a key to preventing the cascade of obesity and helping spread healthy behaviors in a social network. In our conference paper, we have developed a social influence model, named Socialized Gaussian Process (SGP), for socialized human behavior modeling. Instead of explicitly modeling social influence as individuals' behaviors influenced by their friends' previous behaviors, SGP models the dynamic social correlation as the result of social influence. The SGP model naturally incorporates personal behavior factor and social correlation factor (i.e., the homophily principle: Friends tend to perform similar behaviors) into a unified model. And it models the social influence factor (i.e., an individual's behavior can be affected by his/her friends) implicitly in dynamic social correlation schemes. The detailed experimental evaluation has shown the SGP model achieves better prediction accuracy compared with most of baseline methods. However, a Socialized Random Forest model may perform better at the beginning compared with the SGP model. One of the main reasons is the dynamic social correlation function is purely based on the users' sequential behaviors without considering other physical activity-related features. To address this issue, we further propose a novel “multi-feature SGP model” (mfSGP) which improves the SGP model by using multiple physical activity-related features in the dynamic social correlation learning. Extensive experimental results illustrate that the mfSGP model clearly outperforms all other models in terms of prediction accuracy and running time. PMID:27746515
Parental overprotection and interpersonal behavior in generalized social phobia.

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Taylor, Charles T; Alden, Lynn E

2006-03-01

Forty-one people with generalized social phobia (GSP) and 42 community controls completed a measure of social developmental experiences and then participated in a social interaction with an experimental assistant whose behavior was either friendly or ambiguous. Following the interaction, confederates rated participants' behavior and their desire to interact with their partner again. In people with social phobia, but not controls, perceptions of parental overprotection were associated with less responsiveness to partner behavior. Moreover, failure to reciprocate the friendly partner's behavior led to social rejection. The results support the value of incorporating social developmental concepts into cognitive-behavioral models of social phobia and highlight the contribution of social learning experiences to the development of maladaptive interpersonal behavior in these individuals.
The CRF system and social behavior: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hostetler, Caroline M; Ryabinin, Andrey E

2013-01-01

The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system plays a key role in a diversity of behaviors accompanying stress, anxiety and depression. There is also substantial research on relationships between social behaviors and the CRF system in a variety of taxa including fish, birds, rodents, and primates. Some of these relationships are due to the broad role of CRF and urocortins in stress and anxiety, but these peptides also modulate social behavior specifically. For example, the social interaction (SI) test is often used to measure anxiety-like behavior. Many components of the CRF system including CRF, urocortin1, and the R1 receptor have been implicated in SI, via general effects on anxiety as well as specific effects depending on the brain region. The CRF system is also highly responsive to chronic social stressors such as social defeat and isolation. Animals exposed to these stressors display a number of anxiety- and stress-related behaviors, accompanied by changes in specific components the CRF system. Although the primary focus of CRF research on social behavior has been on the deleterious effects of social stress, there are also insights on a role for CRF and urocortins in prosocial and affiliative behaviors. The CRF system has been implicated in parental care, maternal defense, sexual behavior, and pair bonding. Species differences in the ligands and CRF receptors have been observed in vole and bird species differing in social behavior. Exogenous administration of CRF facilitates partner preference formation in monogamous male prairie voles, and these effects are dependent on both the CRF R1 and R2 receptors. These findings are particularly interesting as studies have also implicated the CRF and urocortins in social memory. With the rapid progress of social neuroscience and in understanding the complex structure of the CRF system, the next challenge is in parsing the exact contribution of individual components of this system to specific social behaviors.
The CRF System and Social Behavior: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline M Hostetler

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF system plays a key role in a diversity of behaviors accompanying stress, anxiety and depression. There is also substantial research on relationships between social behaviors and the CRF system in a variety of taxa including fish, birds, rodents, and primates. Some of these relationships are due to the broad role of CRF and urocortins in stress and anxiety, but these peptides also modulate social behavior specifically. For example, the social interaction (SI test is often used to measure anxiety-like behavior. Many components of the CRF system including CRF, urocortin1, and the R1 receptor have been implicated in SI, via general effects on anxiety as well as specific effects depending on the brain region. The CRF system is also highly responsive to chronic social stressors such as social defeat and isolation. Animals exposed to these stressors display a number of anxiety- and stress-related behaviors, accompanied by changes in specific components the CRF system. Although the primary focus of CRF research on social behavior has been on the deleterious effects of social stress, there are also insights on a role for CRF and urocortins in prosocial and affiliative behaviors. The CRF system has been implicated in parental care, maternal defense, sexual behavior, and pair bonding. Species differences in the ligands and CRF receptors have been observed in vole and bird species differing in social behavior. Exogenous administration of CRF facilitates partner preference formation in monogamous male prairie voles, and these effects are dependent on both the CRF R1 and R2 receptors. These findings are particularly interesting as studies have also implicated the CRF and urocortins in social memory. With the rapid progress of social neuroscience and in understanding the complex structure of the CRF system, the next challenge is in parsing the exact contribution of individual components of this system to specific social
Why did I do that? : Explaining Actions Activated Outside of Awareness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gantman, A; Adriaanse, M.A.; Gollwitzer, P.M; Oettingen, G

2017-01-01

We review the latest research investigating how people explain their own actions when they have been activated nonconsciously. We will discuss evidence that when nonconsciously activated behavior is unexpected (e.g., normviolating, against self -standards), negative affect arises and triggers
Updating biological bases of social behavior.

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O'Connor, Thomas G

2014-09-01

This month's collation of papers deals with social behaviors that operationalize key constructs in fields covered by the journal, including attachment theory and parenting; emotional regulation; psychopathology of several forms; general and specific cognitive abilities. Notably, many examples are offered of how these social behaviors link with biology. That is an obvious and important direction for clinical research insofar as it helps to erase a perceptual chasm and artificial duality between 'behavior' and 'biology'. But, although it must be the case that social behavior has biological connections of one sort or other, identifying reliable connections with practical application has proved to be a non-trivial challenge. In particular, the challenge seems to be in measuring social behavior meaningfully enough that it could be expected to have a biological pulse, and in measuring biological markers systematically enough that emergent-downstream effects would surface. Associations are not especially uncommon, but it has been a frustrating task in constructing a practically broad model from a bricolage of scattered and disconnected parts and findings in the literature. Several reports in this issue offer contrasts that may help move along this line of study. © 2014 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Parent-Implemented Behavioral Skills Training of Social Skills

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Dogan, Rebecca K.; King, Melissa L.; Fischetti, Anthony T.; Lake, Candice M.; Mathews, Therese L.; Warzak, William J.

2017-01-01

Impairment in social skills is a primary feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Research indicates that social skills are intimately tied to social development and negative social consequences can persist if specific social behaviors are not acquired. The present study evaluated the effects of behavioral skills training (BST) on teaching…
Reproductive neuroendocrine pathways of social behavior

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Ishwar eParhar

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Social behaviors are key components of reproduction because they are essential for successful fertilization. Social behaviors such as courtship, mating, and aggression are strongly associated with sex steroids, such as testosterone, estradiol and progesterone. Secretion of sex steroids from the gonads is regulated by the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG axis in vertebrates. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH is a pivotal hypothalamic neuropeptide that stimulates gonadotropin release from the pituitary. In recent years, the role of neuropeptides containing the C-terminal Arg-Phe-NH2 (RFamide peptides has been emphasized in vertebrate reproduction. In particular, two key RFamide peptides, kisspeptin and gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH, emerged as critical accelerator and suppressor of gonadotropin secretion. Kisspeptin stimulates GnRH release by directly acting on GnRH neurons, whereas GnIH inhibits gonadotropin release by inhibiting kisspeptin or GnRH neurons or pituitary gonadotropes. These neuropeptides can regulate social behavior by regulating the HPG axis. However, distribution of neuronal fibers of GnRH, kisspeptin and GnIH neurons are not limited within the hypothalamus, and the existence of extra-hypothalamic neuronal fibers suggests direct control of social behavior within the brain. It has traditionally been shown that central administration of GnRH can stimulate female sexual behavior in rats. Recently, it was shown that Kiss1, one of the paralogs of kisspeptin peptide family, regulates fear responses in zebrafish and GnIH inhibits socio-sexual behavior in birds. Here we highlight recent findings regarding the role of GnRH, kisspeptin and GnIH in the regulation of social behaviors in fish, birds and mammals and discuss their importance in future biological and biomedical research.
Preschool children's behavioral tendency toward social indirect reciprocity.

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Mayuko Kato-Shimizu

Full Text Available Social indirect reciprocity seems to be crucial in enabling large-scale cooperative networks among genetically unrelated individuals in humans. However, there are relatively few studies on social indirect reciprocity in children compared to adults. Investigating whether young children have a behavioral tendency toward social indirect reciprocity will help us understand how and when the fundamental ability to form cooperative relationships among adults is acquired. Using naturalistic observation at a nursery school, this study examined whether 5- to 6-year-olds show a behavioral tendency to engage in social indirect reciprocity in response to their peers' prosocial behavior toward a third party. The results revealed that bystander children tended to display prosocial behavior toward their peers more frequently after observing these peers' prosocial behavior toward third-party peers, compared with control situations; this suggests that 5- to 6-year-olds may have an essential behavioral tendency to establish social indirect reciprocity when interacting with peers in their daily lives. In addition, bystanders tended to display affiliative behavior after observing focal children's prosocial behavior. In other words, observing peers' prosocial behavior toward third-party peers evoked bystanders' positive emotions toward the helpers. Considering both the present results and previous findings, we speculate that in preschoolers, such positive emotions might mediate the increase in the bystander's prosocial behavior toward the helper. In addition, an intuitional emotional process plays an important role in the preschooler's behavioral tendency toward social indirect reciprocity in natural interactions with peers.
Preschool children's behavioral tendency toward social indirect reciprocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kato-Shimizu, Mayuko; Onishi, Kenji; Kanazawa, Tadahiro; Hinobayashi, Toshihiko

2013-01-01

Social indirect reciprocity seems to be crucial in enabling large-scale cooperative networks among genetically unrelated individuals in humans. However, there are relatively few studies on social indirect reciprocity in children compared to adults. Investigating whether young children have a behavioral tendency toward social indirect reciprocity will help us understand how and when the fundamental ability to form cooperative relationships among adults is acquired. Using naturalistic observation at a nursery school, this study examined whether 5- to 6-year-olds show a behavioral tendency to engage in social indirect reciprocity in response to their peers' prosocial behavior toward a third party. The results revealed that bystander children tended to display prosocial behavior toward their peers more frequently after observing these peers' prosocial behavior toward third-party peers, compared with control situations; this suggests that 5- to 6-year-olds may have an essential behavioral tendency to establish social indirect reciprocity when interacting with peers in their daily lives. In addition, bystanders tended to display affiliative behavior after observing focal children's prosocial behavior. In other words, observing peers' prosocial behavior toward third-party peers evoked bystanders' positive emotions toward the helpers. Considering both the present results and previous findings, we speculate that in preschoolers, such positive emotions might mediate the increase in the bystander's prosocial behavior toward the helper. In addition, an intuitional emotional process plays an important role in the preschooler's behavioral tendency toward social indirect reciprocity in natural interactions with peers.

Perceptions of Popularity-Related Behaviors in the Cyber Context: Relations to Cyber Social Behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle F. Wright

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Despite acknowledging that adolescents are active users of electronic technology, little is known about their perceptions concerning how such technologies might be used to promote their social standing among their peer group and whether these perceptions relate to their cyber social behaviors (i.e., cyber aggression perpetration, cyber prosocial behavior. To address this gap in the literature, the present study included 857 seventh graders (M age: 12.19; 50.8% female from a large Midwestern city in the United States. They completed questionnaires on face-to-face social behaviors, cyber social behaviors, perceived popularity, social preference, and their perceptions of characteristics and activities related to the cyber context which might be used to promote popularity. Findings revealed four activities and characteristics used to improve adolescents’ social standing in the peer group, including antisocial behaviors, sociability, prosocial behaviors, and technology access. Using antisocial behaviors in the cyber context to promote popularity was related to cyber aggression perpetration, while controlling for gender, social preference, and perceived popularity. On the other hand, sociability and prosocial behaviors in the cyber context used to improve popularity as well as technology access were associated with cyber prosocial behavior. A call for additional research is made.
Social network cohesion in school classes promotes prosocial behavior.

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van den Bos, Wouter; Crone, Eveline A; Meuwese, Rosa; Güroğlu, Berna

2018-01-01

Adolescence is a key period of social development at the end of which individuals are expected to take on adult social roles. The school class, as the most salient peer group, becomes the prime environment that impacts social development during adolescence. Using social network analyses, we investigated how individual and group level features are related to prosocial behavior and social capital (generalized trust). We mapped the social networks within 22 classrooms of adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years (N = 611), and collected data on social behaviors towards peers. Our results indicate that individuals with high centrality show both higher levels of prosocial behavior and relational aggression. Importantly, greater social cohesion in the classroom was associated with (1) reduced levels of antisocial behavior towards peers and (2) increased generalized trust. These results provide novel insights in the relationship between social structure and social behavior, and stress the importance of the school environment in the development of not only intellectual but also social capital.
Social network cohesion in school classes promotes prosocial behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Crone, Eveline A.; Meuwese, Rosa; Güroğlu, Berna

2018-01-01

Adolescence is a key period of social development at the end of which individuals are expected to take on adult social roles. The school class, as the most salient peer group, becomes the prime environment that impacts social development during adolescence. Using social network analyses, we investigated how individual and group level features are related to prosocial behavior and social capital (generalized trust). We mapped the social networks within 22 classrooms of adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years (N = 611), and collected data on social behaviors towards peers. Our results indicate that individuals with high centrality show both higher levels of prosocial behavior and relational aggression. Importantly, greater social cohesion in the classroom was associated with (1) reduced levels of antisocial behavior towards peers and (2) increased generalized trust. These results provide novel insights in the relationship between social structure and social behavior, and stress the importance of the school environment in the development of not only intellectual but also social capital. PMID:29617405
Behavioral and social cognitive processes in preschool children's social dominance.

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Pellegrini, Anthony D; Van Ryzin, Mark J; Roseth, Cary; Bohn-Gettler, Catherine; Dupuis, Danielle; Hickey, Meghan; Peshkam, Annie

2011-01-01

This longitudinal, naturalistic study addressed behavioral and social cognitive processes implicated in preschool children's social dominance. In the first objective, we examined the degree to which peer aggression, affiliation, and postaggression reconciliation predicted social dominance across a school year. Consistent with predictions, all three predicted dominance early in the year while only affiliation predicted dominance later in the year, suggesting that aggression, affiliation, and reconciliation were used to establish social dominance where affiliation was used to maintain it. In the second, exploratory, objective we tested the relative importance of social dominance and reconciliation (the Machiavellian and Vygotskian intelligence hypotheses, respectively) in predicting theory of mind/false belief. Results indicated that social dominance accounted for significant variance, beyond that related to reconciliation and affiliation, in predicting theory of mind/false belief status. Results are discussed in terms of specific behavioral and social cognitive processes employed in establishing and maintaining social dominance. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Sex-specific modulation of juvenile social play behavior by vasopressin and oxytocin depends on social context

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Bredewold, Remco; Smith, Caroline J. W.; Dumais, Kelly M.; Veenema, Alexa H.

2014-01-01

We recently demonstrated that vasopressin (AVP) in the lateral septum modulates social play behavior differently in male and female juvenile rats. However, the extent to which different social contexts (i.e., exposure to an unfamiliar play partner in different environments) affect the regulation of social play remains largely unknown. Given that AVP and the closely related neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) modulate social behavior as well as anxiety-like behavior, we hypothesized that these neuropeptides may regulate social play behavior differently in novel (novel cage) as opposed to familiar (home cage) social environments. Administration of the specific AVP V1a receptor (V1aR) antagonist (CH2)5Tyr(Me2)AVP into the lateral septum enhanced home cage social play behavior in males but reduced it in females, confirming our previous findings. These effects were context-specific because V1aR blockade did not alter novel cage social play behavior in either sex. Furthermore, social play in females was reduced by AVP in the novel cage and by OXT in the home cage. Additionally, females administered the specific OXT receptor antagonist desGly-NH2,d(CH2)5−[Tyr(Me)2,Thr4]OVT showed less social play in the novel as compared to the home cage. AVP enhanced anxiety-related behavior in males (tested on the elevated plus-maze), but failed to do so in females, suggesting that exogenous AVP alters social play and anxiety-related behavior via distinct and sex-specific mechanisms. Moreover, none of the other drug treatments that altered social play had an effect on anxiety, suggesting that these drug-induced behavioral alterations are relatively specific to social behavior. Overall, we showed that AVP and OXT systems in the lateral septum modulate social play in juvenile rats in neuropeptide-, sex- and social context-specific ways. These findings underscore the importance of considering not only sex, but also social context, in how AVP and OXT modulate social behavior. PMID:24982623
Sex-specific modulation of juvenile social play behavior by vasopressin and oxytocin depends on social context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remco eBredewold

2014-06-01

Full Text Available We recently demonstrated that vasopressin (AVP in the lateral septum modulates social play behavior differently in male and female juvenile rats. However, the extent to which different social contexts (i.e., exposure to an unfamiliar play partner in different environments affect the regulation of social play remains largely unknown. Given that AVP and the closely related neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT modulate social behavior as well as anxiety-like behavior, we hypothesized that these neuropeptides may regulate social play behavior differently in novel (novel cage as opposed to familiar (home cage social environments. Administration of the specific AVP V1a receptor (V1aR antagonist (CH25Tyr(Me2AVP into the lateral septum enhanced home cage social play behavior in males but reduced it in females, confirming our previous findings. These effects were context-specific because V1aR blockade did not alter novel cage social play behavior in either sex. Furthermore, social play in females was reduced by AVP in the novel cage and by OXT in the home cage. Additionally, females administered the specific OXT receptor antagonist desGly-NH2,d(CH25-[Tyr(Me2,Thr4]OVT showed less social play in the novel as compared to the home cage. AVP enhanced anxiety-related behavior in males (tested on the elevated plus-maze, but failed to do so in females, suggesting that exogenous AVP alters social play and anxiety-related behavior via distinct and sex-specific mechanisms. Moreover, none of the other drug treatments that altered social play had an effect on anxiety, suggesting that these drug-induced behavioral alterations are relatively specific to social behavior. Overall, we showed that AVP and OXT systems in the lateral septum modulate social play in juvenile rats in neuropeptide-, sex- and social context-specific ways. These findings underscore the importance of considering not only sex, but also social context, in how AVP and OXT modulate social behavior.
Behavioral and social development of children born extremely premature

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Esbjørn, Barbara Hoff; Hansen, Bo Mølholm; Munck, Hanne

2004-01-01

A cohort of extremely prematurely born children and matched term controls was assessed at 5 years of age. The parents completed a questionnaire on their behavioral and social development. The purpose was to illuminate whether the children's general intellectual ability and parental sensitivity were...... associated with behavioral and social development. The index children exhibited more hyperactive behavior and had poorer social skills than the controls. Lower Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) was associated with outward reacting and hyperactive behavior and poorer social skills. Sensitive parenting was associated...... with less outward reacting and less hyperactive behavior. When controlling for differences in FSIQ and parental sensitivity, the index children persisted to have an increased risk of exhibiting hyperactive behavior but not poorer social skills. The index children with normal intellectual development...
Changing health behaviors with social marketing.

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Suarez-Almazor, M E

2011-08-01

Social marketing uses marketing techniques to promote healthy attitudes and behaviors. As in traditional marketing, the development and implementation of social marketing programs is based on the four P's: product, price, place, and promotion, but it also incorporates the partnership and participation of stakeholders to enhance public health and engage policy makers. The "product" in social marketing is generally a behavior, such as a change in lifestyle (e.g., diet) or an increase in a desired health practice (e.g., screening). In order for people to desire this product, it must offer a solution to a problem that is weighed with respect to the price to pay. The price is not just monetary, and it often involves giving something up, such as time (e.g., exercising) or a wanted, satisfying behavior (e.g., smoking). In its development phase, social marketing incorporates qualitative methods to create messages that are powerful and potentially effective. The implementation of the programs commonly involves mass campaigns with advertisement in various media. There have been a few social media campaigns targeting bone health that have been disseminated with substantial outreach. However, these have not been systematically evaluated, specifically with respect to change in behavior and health outcomes. Future campaigns should identify target behaviors that are amenable to change such as bone mass measurement screening or exercise. Audience segmentation will be crucial, since a message for young women to increase peak bone mass would be very different from a message for older individuals who have just experienced a fracture. Campaigns should involve key stakeholders, including policy makers, health providers, and the public. Finally, success must be carefully evaluated, not just by the outreach of the campaign, but also by a change in relevant behaviors and a decrease in deleterious health outcomes.
The coevolution of recognition and social behavior.

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Smead, Rory; Forber, Patrick

2016-05-26

Recognition of behavioral types can facilitate the evolution of cooperation by enabling altruistic behavior to be directed at other cooperators and withheld from defectors. While much is known about the tendency for recognition to promote cooperation, relatively little is known about whether such a capacity can coevolve with the social behavior it supports. Here we use evolutionary game theory and multi-population dynamics to model the coevolution of social behavior and recognition. We show that conditional harming behavior enables the evolution and stability of social recognition, whereas conditional helping leads to a deterioration of recognition ability. Expanding the model to include a complex game where both helping and harming interactions are possible, we find that conditional harming behavior can stabilize recognition, and thereby lead to the evolution of conditional helping. Our model identifies a novel hypothesis for the evolution of cooperation: conditional harm may have coevolved with recognition first, thereby helping to establish the mechanisms necessary for the evolution of cooperation.
Effects of Behavioral and Social Class Information on Social Judgment.

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Baron, Reuben M.; And Others

1995-01-01

Investigated the role of disconfirming behavioral information and the limits on social class schema effects. Using a Bayesian model of social perception, it was found that unambiguous, relevant stimulus information influenced judgments. Although social class information did not affect relevant stimulus information, it did sway judgments in…
Modification of feeding circuits in the evolution of social behavior.

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Fischer, Eva K; O'Connell, Lauren A

2017-01-01

Adaptive trade-offs between foraging and social behavior intuitively explain many aspects of individual decision-making. Given the intimate connection between social behavior and feeding/foraging at the behavioral level, we propose that social behaviors are linked to foraging on a mechanistic level, and that modifications of feeding circuits are crucial in the evolution of complex social behaviors. In this Review, we first highlight the overlap between mechanisms underlying foraging and parental care and then expand this argument to consider the manipulation of feeding-related pathways in the evolution of other complex social behaviors. We include examples from diverse taxa to highlight that the independent evolution of complex social behaviors is a variation on the theme of feeding circuit modification. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.
The Behavioral Health Role in Nursing Facility Social Work.

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Myers, Dennis R; Rogers, Robin K; LeCrone, Harold H; Kelley, Katherine

2017-09-01

Types of compromised resident behaviors licensed nursing facility social workers encounter, the behavioral health role they enact, and effective practices they apply have not been the subject of systematic investigation. Analyses of 20 in-depth interviews with Bachelor of Social Work (BSW)/Master of Social Work (MSW) social workers averaging 8.8 years of experience identified frequently occurring resident behaviors: physical and verbal aggression/disruption, passive disruption, socially and sexually inappropriateness. Six functions of the behavioral health role were care management, educating, investigating, preventing, mediating, and advocating. Skills most frequently applied were attention/affirmation/active listening, assessment, behavior management, building relationship, teamwork, and redirection. Narratives revealed role rewards as well as knowledge deficits, organizational barriers, personal maltreatment, and frustrations. Respondents offered perspectives and prescriptions for behavioral health practice in this setting. The findings expand understanding of the behavioral health role and provide an empirical basis for more research in this area. Recommendations, including educational competencies, are offered.
Social Learning Theory and Behavioral Therapy: Considering Human Behaviors within the Social and Cultural Context of Individuals and Families.

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McCullough Chavis, Annie

2011-01-01

This article examines theoretical thoughts of social learning theory and behavioral therapy and their influences on human behavior within a social and cultural context. The article utilizes two case illustrations with applications for consumers. It points out the abundance of research studies concerning the effectiveness of social learning theory, and the paucity of research studies regarding effectiveness and evidence-based practices with diverse groups. Providing a social and cultural context in working with diverse groups with reference to social learning theory adds to the literature for more cultural considerations in adapting the theory to women, African Americans, and diverse groups.
An evolutionary framework for studying mechanisms of social behavior.

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Hofmann, Hans A; Beery, Annaliese K; Blumstein, Daniel T; Couzin, Iain D; Earley, Ryan L; Hayes, Loren D; Hurd, Peter L; Lacey, Eileen A; Phelps, Steven M; Solomon, Nancy G; Taborsky, Michael; Young, Larry J; Rubenstein, Dustin R

2014-10-01

Social interactions are central to most animals and have a fundamental impact upon the phenotype of an individual. Social behavior (social interactions among conspecifics) represents a central challenge to the integration of the functional and mechanistic bases of complex behavior. Traditionally, studies of proximate and ultimate elements of social behavior have been conducted by distinct groups of researchers, with little communication across perceived disciplinary boundaries. However, recent technological advances, coupled with increased recognition of the substantial variation in mechanisms underlying social interactions, should compel investigators from divergent disciplines to pursue more integrative analyses of social behavior. We propose an integrative conceptual framework intended to guide researchers towards a comprehensive understanding of the evolution and maintenance of mechanisms governing variation in sociality. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Social Capital and Savings Behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Newman, Carol; Tarp, Finn; Khai, Luu Duc

In this paper, we analyze household savings in rural Vietnam paying particular attention to the factors that determine the proportion of savings held as formal deposits. Our aim is to explore the extent to which social capital can play a role in promoting formal savings behavior. Social capital...
Social isolation during puberty affects female sexual behavior in mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jasmina eKercmar

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Exposure to stress during puberty can lead to long-term behavioral alterations in adult rodents coincident with sex steroid hormone-dependent brain remodeling and reorganization. Social isolation is a stress for social animals like mice, but little is known about the effects of such stress during adolescence on later reproductive behaviors. The present study examined sexual behavior of ovariectomized, estradiol and progesterone primed female mice that were individually housed from 25 days of age until testing at approximately 95 days, or individually housed from day 25 until day 60 (during puberty, followed by housing in social groups. Mice in these isolated groups were compared to females that were group housed throughout the experiment. Receptive sexual behaviors of females and behaviors of stimulus males were recorded. Females housed in social groups displayed greater levels of receptive behaviors in comparison to both socially isolated groups. Namely, social females had higher lordosis quotients and more often displayed stronger lordosis postures in comparison to isolated females. No differences between female groups were observed in stimulus male sexual behavior suggesting that female ’attractiveness’ was not affected by their social isolation. Females housed in social groups had fewer cells containing immunoreactive estrogen receptor (ER α in the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV and in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH than both isolated groups. These results suggest that isolation during adolescence affects female sexual behavior and re-socialization for one month in adulthood is insufficient to rescue lordosis behavior from the effects of social isolation during the pubertal period.
Consequences of early postnatal benzodiazepines exposure in rats. II. Social behavior

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Anna eMikulecka

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Social behavior represents an integral part of behavioral repertoire of rats particularly sensitive to pharmacological and environmental influences. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether early postnatal clonazepam (CZP exposure can induce age-dependent changes related to expression of social behavior. The drug was administered from postnatal day (P 7 until P11 at daily doses of 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg i.p. We designed three experiments to assess whether exposure to CZP affects social behavior in respect to the age of rats and the test circumstances, specifically their familiarity with test conditions during adolescence (P32, social behavior in juveniles and adolescents (P18-P42 and social behavior in a resident-intruder paradigm. The frequency and duration of a various patterns of social behavior related to play and social investigation not related to play were evaluated. The results showed that CZP postnatal exposure decreased social play behavior regardless of age and familiarity or unfamiliarity of experimental environment but did not affect the social investigation per se. When rats were confronted with an intruder in their home cages intense wrestling and inhibition of genital investigation were found. In conclusion, these findings show that short-term CZP postnatal exposure inhibits social play behavior and alters specific patterns of social behavior in an age and environment related manner
Developmental social isolation affects adult behavior, social interaction, and dopamine metabolite levels in zebrafish.

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Shams, Soaleha; Amlani, Shahid; Buske, Christine; Chatterjee, Diptendu; Gerlai, Robert

2018-01-01

The zebrafish is a social vertebrate and an excellent translational model for a variety of human disorders. Abnormal social behavior is a hallmark of several human brain disorders. Social behavioral problems can arise as a result of adverse early social environment. Little is known about the effects of early social isolation in adult zebrafish. We compared zebrafish that were isolated for either short (7 days) or long duration (180 days) to socially housed zebrafish, testing their behavior across ontogenesis (ages 10, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 days), and shoal cohesion and whole-brain monoamines and their metabolites in adulthood. Long social isolation increased locomotion and decreased shoal cohesion and anxiety in the open-field in adult. Additionally, both short and long social isolation reduced dopamine metabolite levels in response to social stimuli. Thus, early social isolation has lasting effects in zebrafish, and may be employed to generate zebrafish models of human neuropsychiatric conditions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Social behavior of young dairy calves housed with limited or full social contact with a peer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Duve, Linda Rosager; Jensen, Margit Bak

2012-01-01

grouping in duration of rest and rest with a neighbor. In conclusion, from the age of 3wk of life, calves housed with full social contact performed more social behaviors than calves housed individually with limited social contact, whereas only minor differences were found in the social behavior of calves......This study compared the effect of individual and pair housing and age at pair housing on the social behavior of young dairy calves. Twenty-seven pairs of calves were reared from birth until 6 wk either individually (limited social contact between bars; L calves), in pairs (full social contact; F...... sniffing and licking another calf more than were the L calves. No difference was found in duration of lying down in body contact with another calf between F and LF calves on d 22; however, on d 34, LF calves performed more of this behavior than did F calves. Continuous recordings of social behavior were...
What the laboratory rat has taught us about social play behavior: role in behavioral development and neural mechanisms.

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Vanderschuren, Louk J M J; Trezza, Viviana

2014-01-01

Social play behavior is the most vigorous and characteristic form of social interaction displayed by developing mammals. The laboratory rat is an ideal species to study this behavior, since it shows ample social play that can be easily recognized and quantified. In this chapter, we will first briefly describe the structure of social play behavior in rats. Next, we will discuss studies that used social isolation rearing during the period in life when social play is most abundant to investigate the developmental functions of social play behavior in rats, focusing on the consequences of play deprivation on social, cognitive, emotional, and sensorimotor development. Last, we will discuss the neural substrates of social play behavior in rats, with emphasis on the limbic corticostriatal circuits that underlie emotions and their influence on behavior.

The Influence of Social Networking Photos on Social Norms and Sexual Health Behaviors

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Jordan, Alexander H.

2013-01-01

Abstract Two studies tested whether online social networking technologies influence health behavioral social norms, and in turn, personal health behavioral intentions. In Study 1, experimental participants browsed peers' Facebook photos on a college network with a low prevalence of sexually suggestive content. Participants estimated the percentage of their peers who have sex without condoms, and rated their own future intentions to use condoms. Experimental participants, compared to controls who did not view photos, estimated that a larger percentage of their peers use condoms, and indicated a greater intention to use condoms themselves in the future. In Study 2, participants were randomly assigned to view sexually suggestive or nonsexually suggestive Facebook photos, and responded to sexual risk behavioral questions. Compared to participants viewing nonsuggestive photos, those who viewed sexually suggestive Facebook photos estimated that a larger percentage of their peers have unprotected sexual intercourse and sex with strangers and were more likely to report that they themselves would engage in these behaviors. Thus, online social networks can influence perceptions of the peer prevalence of sexual risk behaviors, and can influence users' own intentions with regard to such behaviors. These studies suggest the potential power of social networks to affect health behaviors by altering perceptions of peer norms. PMID:23438268
Juvenile social defeat stress exposure persistently impairs social behaviors and neurogenesis.

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Mouri, Akihiro; Ukai, Mayu; Uchida, Mizuki; Hasegawa, Sho; Taniguchi, Masayuki; Ito, Takahiro; Hida, Hirotake; Yoshimi, Akira; Yamada, Kiyofumi; Kunimoto, Shohko; Ozaki, Norio; Nabeshima, Toshitaka; Noda, Yukihiro

2018-05-01

Adverse juvenile experiences, including physical abuse, often have negative health consequences later in life. We investigated the influence of social defeat stress exposure as juveniles on neuropsychological behaviors, and the causal role of glucocorticoids in abnormal behaviors and impairment of neurogenesis in mice exposed to the stress. The juvenile (24-day-old) and adult (70-day-old) male C57BL/6J mice were exposed to social defeat stress induced by an aggressive ICR mouse. Social defeat stress exposure as juveniles, even for 1 day, induced persistent social avoidance to the unfamiliar ICR mouse in the social interaction test, but that was not observed in mice exposed to the stress as adults. Social avoidance by the stress exposure as juveniles for 10 consecutive days was observed, when the target mouse was not only unfamiliar ICR but also another C57BL/J mouse, but not an absent or an anesthetized ICR mouse. The stress exposure did not induce anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in spontaneous locomotor activity, elevated plus-maze test, marble-burying test, forced swimming test, or sucrose preference test. Serum corticosterone levels increased immediately after the stress exposure. The hippocampal neurogenesis was suppressed 1 day and 4 weeks after the stress exposure. Administration of mifepristone, a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, prior to each stress exposure, blocked the persistent social avoidance and suppression of neurogenesis. In conclusion, social avoidance induced by social defeat stress exposure as juveniles are more persistent than that as adults. These social avoidances are associated with suppression of hippocampal neurogenesis via glucocorticoid receptors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Placebo treatment facilitates social trust and approach behavior.

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Yan, Xinyuan; Yong, Xue; Huang, Wenhao; Ma, Yina

2018-05-29

Placebo effect refers to beneficial changes induced by the use of inert treatment, such as placebo-induced relief of physical pain and attenuation of negative affect. To date, we know little about whether placebo treatment could facilitate social functioning, a crucial aspect for well-being of a social species. In the present study, we develop and validate a paradigm to induce placebo effects on social trust and approach behavior (social placebo effect), and show robust evidence that placebo treatment promotes trust in others and increases preference for a closer interpersonal distance. We further examine placebo effects in real-life social interaction and show that placebo treatment makes single, but not pair-bonded, males keep closer to an attractive first-met female and perceive less social anxiety in the female. Finally, we show evidence that the effects of placebo treatment on social trust and approach behavior can be as strong as the effect of intranasal administration of oxytocin, a neuropeptide known for its function in facilitating social cognition and behavior. The finding of the social placebo effect extends our understanding of placebo effects on improvement of physical, mental, and social well-being and suggests clinical potentials in the treatment of social dysfunction.
Social information processing skills in adolescents with traumatic brain injury: Relationship with social competence and behavior problems.

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Walz, Nicolay Chertkoff; Yeates, Keith Owen; Wade, Shari L; Mark, Erin

2009-01-01

To examine social information processing (SIP) skills, behavior problems, and social competence following adolescent TBI and to determine whether SIP skills were predictive of behavior problems and social competence. Cross-sectional analyses of adolescents with TBI recruited and enrolled in a behavioral treatment study currently in progress. Two tertiary care children's hospitals with Level 1 trauma centers. Adolescents aged 11 to 18 years with severe TBI (n=19) and moderate TBI (n=24) who were injured up to 24 months prior to recruitment. TBI severity, race, maternal education, and age at testing. a measure of SIP skills, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Youth Self Report (YSR), and Home and Community Social Behavior Scale (HCSBS). The severe TBI group did not obtain significantly lower scores on the SIP measures than the moderate TBI group. In comparison to adolescents with moderate TBI, those with severe TBI had significantly more parent-reported externalizing behaviors and self-reported weaknesses in social competence. SIP skills were strong predictors of problems and social competence in adolescents with TBI. More specifically, an aggressive SIP style predicted externalizing problems and a passive SIP style predicted internalizing problems. Both passive and aggressive SIP skills were related to social competence and social problems. Adolescents with TBI are at risk for deficits in social and behavioral outcomes. SIP skills are strongly related to behavior problems and social competence in adolescents with TBI. SIP skills, social competence, and behavior problems are important targets for intervention that may be amenable to change and lead to improved functional outcomes following TBI.
Social and behavioral science priorities for genomic translation.

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Koehly, Laura M; Persky, Susan; Spotts, Erica; Acca, Gillian

2018-01-29

This commentary highlights the essential role of the social and behavioral sciences for genomic translation, and discusses some priority research areas in this regard. The first area encompasses genetics of behavioral, social, and neurocognitive factors, and how integration of these relationships might impact the development of treatments and interventions. The second area includes the contributions that social and behavioral sciences make toward the informed translation of genomic developments. Further, there is a need for behavioral and social sciences to inform biomedical research for effective implementation. The third area speaks to the need for increased outreach and education efforts to improve the public's genomic literacy such that individuals and communities can make informed health-related and societal (e.g., in legal or consumer settings) decisions. Finally, there is a need to prioritize representation of diverse communities in genomics research and equity of access to genomic technologies. Examples from National Institutes of Health-based intramural and extramural research programs and initiatives are used to discuss these points. © Society of Behavioral Medicine 2018.
Social Work Practice Behaviors and Beliefs: Rural-Urban Differences?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tom A. Croxton

2002-12-01

Full Text Available There is continuing debate within the social work profession on whether there are significant differences in the practice behaviors and beliefs between rural and urban clinical social workers and whether different standards should be applied in defining ethical practices. This study measures those differences with regard to five practice behaviors: bartering,maintaining confidentiality, competent practice, dual relationships, and social relationships. Differences were found in beliefs regarding the appropriateness of professional behavior though such differences did not translate into practice behaviors.More significantly, the research suggests considerable confusion about the meanings of ethical standards and the utilization of intervention techniques without formal training across both urban and rural social workers.
Reactivity to Social Stress in Subclinical Social Anxiety: Emotional Experience, Cognitive Appraisals, Behavior, and Physiology

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Crişan, Liviu G.; Vulturar, Romana; Miclea, Mircea; Miu, Andrei C.

2016-01-01

Recent research indicates that subclinical social anxiety is associated with dysfunctions at multiple psychological and biological levels, in a manner that seems reminiscent of social anxiety disorder (SAD). This study aimed to describe multidimensional responses to laboratory-induced social stress in an analog sample selected for social anxiety symptoms. State anxiety, cognitive biases related to negative social evaluation, speech anxiety behaviors, and cortisol reactivity were assessed in the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Results showed that social anxiety symptoms were associated with increased state anxiety, biased appraisals related to the probability and cost of negative social evaluations, behavioral changes in facial expression that were consistent with speech anxiety, and lower cortisol reactivity. In addition, multiple interrelations between responses in the TSST were found, with positive associations between subjective experience, cognitive appraisals, and observable behavior, as well as negative associations between each of the former two types of response and cortisol reactivity. These results show that in response to social stressors, subclinical social anxiety is associated with significant changes in emotional experience, cognitive appraisals, behaviors, and physiology that could parallel those previously found in SAD samples. PMID:26858658
Behavioral evidence for differences in social and non-social category learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucile eGamond

2012-08-01

Full Text Available When meeting someone for the very first time one spontaneously categorizes the seen person on the basis of his/her appearance. Categorization is based on the association between some physical features and category labels that can be social (character trait… or non-social (tall, thin. Surprisingly little is known about how such associations are formed, particularly in the social domain. Here, we aimed at testing whether social and non-social category learning may be dissociated. We presented subjects with a large number of faces that had to be rated according to social or non-social labels, and induced an association between a facial feature (inter-eye distance and the category labels using two different procedures. In a first experiment, we used a feedback procedure to reinforce the association; behavioral measures revealed an association between the physical feature manipulated and abstract non-social categories, while no evidence for an association with social labels could be found. In a second experiment, we used passive exposure to the association between physical features and labels; we obtained behavioral evidence for learning of both social and non-social categories. These results support the view of the specificity of social category learning; they suggest that social categories are best acquired through unsupervised procedures that can be considered as a simplified proxy for group transmission.
Contributions of Socialization Theory to Consumer Behavior Research

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Ward, Scott

1978-01-01

Socialization theory can contribute to consumer research because it focuses on (1) youth and development, (2) interaction of factors affecting consumer behavior, and (3) linkages between mental processes and overt behavior. Various approaches to socialization research and consumer research are described, including cognitive development and…
Social influence in child care centers: a test of the theory of normative social behavior.

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Lapinski, Maria Knight; Anderson, Jenn; Shugart, Alicia; Todd, Ewen

2014-01-01

Child care centers are a unique context for studying communication about the social and personal expectations about health behaviors. The theory of normative social behavior (TNSB; Rimal & Real, 2005 ) provides a framework for testing the role of social and psychological influences on handwashing behaviors among child care workers. A cross-sectional survey of child care workers in 21 centers indicates that outcome expectations and group identity increase the strength of the relationship between descriptive norms and handwashing behavior. Injunctive norms also moderate the effect of descriptive norms on handwashing behavior such that when strong injunctive norms are reported, descriptive norms are positively related to handwashing, but when weak injunctive norms are reported, descriptive norms are negatively related to handwashing. The findings suggest that communication interventions in child care centers can focus on strengthening injunctive norms in order to increase handwashing behaviors in child care centers. The findings also suggest that the theory of normative social behavior can be useful in organizational contexts.
Sex Differences in Social Interaction Behavior Following Social Defeat Stress in the Monogamous California Mouse (Peromyscus californicus)

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Trainor, Brian C.; Pride, Michael C.; Villalon Landeros, Rosalina; Knoblauch, Nicholas W.; Takahashi, Elizabeth Y.; Silva, Andrea L.; Crean, Katie K.

2011-01-01

Stressful life experiences are known to be a precipitating factor for many mental disorders. The social defeat model induces behavioral responses in rodents (e.g. reduced social interaction) that are similar to behavioral patterns associated with mood disorders. The model has contributed to the discovery of novel mechanisms regulating behavioral responses to stress, but its utility has been largely limited to males. This is disadvantageous because most mood disorders have a higher incidence in women versus men. Male and female California mice (Peromyscus californicus) aggressively defend territories, which allowed us to observe the effects of social defeat in both sexes. In two experiments, mice were exposed to three social defeat or control episodes. Mice were then behaviorally phenotyped, and indirect markers of brain activity and corticosterone responses to a novel social stimulus were assessed. Sex differences in behavioral responses to social stress were long lasting (4 wks). Social defeat reduced social interaction responses in females but not males. In females, social defeat induced an increase in the number of phosphorylated CREB positive cells in the nucleus accumbens shell after exposure to a novel social stimulus. This effect of defeat was not observed in males. The effects of defeat in females were limited to social contexts, as there were no differences in exploratory behavior in the open field or light-dark box test. These data suggest that California mice could be a useful model for studying sex differences in behavioral responses to stress, particularly in neurobiological mechanisms that are involved with the regulation of social behavior. PMID:21364768
Sex differences in social interaction behavior following social defeat stress in the monogamous California mouse (Peromyscus californicus.

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Brian C Trainor

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Stressful life experiences are known to be a precipitating factor for many mental disorders. The social defeat model induces behavioral responses in rodents (e.g. reduced social interaction that are similar to behavioral patterns associated with mood disorders. The model has contributed to the discovery of novel mechanisms regulating behavioral responses to stress, but its utility has been largely limited to males. This is disadvantageous because most mood disorders have a higher incidence in women versus men. Male and female California mice (Peromyscus californicus aggressively defend territories, which allowed us to observe the effects of social defeat in both sexes. In two experiments, mice were exposed to three social defeat or control episodes. Mice were then behaviorally phenotyped, and indirect markers of brain activity and corticosterone responses to a novel social stimulus were assessed. Sex differences in behavioral responses to social stress were long lasting (4 wks. Social defeat reduced social interaction responses in females but not males. In females, social defeat induced an increase in the number of phosphorylated CREB positive cells in the nucleus accumbens shell after exposure to a novel social stimulus. This effect of defeat was not observed in males. The effects of defeat in females were limited to social contexts, as there were no differences in exploratory behavior in the open field or light-dark box test. These data suggest that California mice could be a useful model for studying sex differences in behavioral responses to stress, particularly in neurobiological mechanisms that are involved with the regulation of social behavior.
Social comparison and prosocial behavior: an applied study of social identity theory in community food drives.

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Shipley, Andrew

2008-04-01

Social Identity Theory and the concept of social comparison have inspired research on individuals, addressing effects of personal and environmental factors in directing social attention. The theory's conceptual origins, however, suggest that social comparison may have behavioral implications as well. Such behaviors may include attempts by an individual to enhance the relative status of his ingroup on a salient dimension of comparison. Such behavior is referred to as "social competition." In two studies, the effects of social comparison and social competition were measured in the real-world environment of community food drives. Participants were aggregated by household; 600 households in upper middle-class neighborhoods in Eugene and Salem, Oregon, were contacted. In Study 1 of 300 households, it was hypothesized that inclusion of a social competition cue in requests for donation would significantly increase the likelihood of donation. This hypothesis was supported. Study 2 was done to clarify the possible role in a social comparison of perceived ingroup inferiority in the prior observed increase in donations. The inclusion of a social comparison cue in the donation request significantly increased donations in households of the second study. The findings suggest that researchers should expand study of the theory's behavioral implications, including the role of social comparison in prosocial behavior.
Social Network Factors and Addictive Behaviors among College Students

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Rinker, Dipali Venkataraman; Krieger, Heather; Neighbors, Clayton

2016-01-01

Purpose of the review To provide an overview of studies within the past five years examining the impact of social network factors on addictive behaviors among college students, to discuss gaps, limitations, and controversies in the field, and to summarize with a discussion of future directions and implications for interventions. Recent findings A review of 13 studies indicated that greater network exposure, centrality, reciprocated ties, and more tightly interconnected networks were associated with greater alcohol use and other addictive behaviors among college students. Summary Greater research is needed that expands beyond alcohol use to other addictive behaviors among college students. Additionally, more studies are needed that longitudinally study the impact of changes in social networks on addictive behaviors and vice versa, as well as studies examining sociocentric (whole) networks. Social network approaches offer innovative perspectives in understanding social influences on addictive behaviors and novel intervention strategies for potentially reducing addictive behaviors among college students. PMID:28580226
Social class & risk preferences and behavior.

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Kish-Gephart, Jennifer J

2017-12-01

This paper reviews recent work regarding the link between one's societal ranking (or social class), and risk preferences and behavior. While the topic of social class and its relationship to risk has been studied only tentatively in psychology, preliminary evidence suggests that experiences with rank, access to resources, and movement between classes have a meaningful impact on people's risk preferences and behaviors. Yet, a clear pattern of results remains elusive. Some studies suggest that lower social class standing is related to risk aversion, while others suggest it is related to risk taking. These mixed results highlight the need for future research that examines when and why lower social class standing is related to more or less risky decisions. By shedding light on this important phenomenon, the hope is to offer intervention opportunities that influence policies and mitigate inequality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effects of Social Context on Social Interaction and Self-Injurious Behavior in Cornelia de Lange Syndrome

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Arron, Kate; Oliver, Chris; Hall, Scott; Sloneem, Jenny; Forman, Debbie; McClintock, Karen

2006-01-01

Cornelia de Lange syndrome is reported to be associated with self-injurious behavior (SIB) and social avoidance. We used analog methodology to examine the effect of manipulating adult social contact on social communicative behaviors and SIB in 16 children with this syndrome. For 9 participants engagement behavior was related to levels of adult…
Collective iteration behavior for online social networks

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Liu, Jian-Guo; Li, Ren-De; Guo, Qiang; Zhang, Yi-Cheng

2018-06-01

Understanding the patterns of collective behavior in online social network (OSNs) is critical to expanding the knowledge of human behavior and tie relationship. In this paper, we investigate a specific pattern called social signature in Facebook and Wiki users' online communication behaviors, capturing the distribution of frequency of interactions between different alters over time in the ego network. The empirical results show that there are robust social signatures of interactions no matter how friends change over time, which indicates that a stable commutation pattern exists in online communication. By comparing a random null model, we find the that commutation pattern is heterogeneous between ego and alters. Furthermore, in order to regenerate the pattern of the social signature, we present a preferential interaction model, which assumes that new users intend to look for the old users with strong ties while old users have tendency to interact with new friends. The experimental results show that the presented model can reproduce the heterogeneity of social signature by adjusting 2 parameters, the number of communicating targets m and the max number of interactions n, for Facebook users, m = n = 5, for Wiki users, m = 2 and n = 8. This work helps in deeply understanding the regularity of social signature.
The Social Contagion of Antisocial Behavior The Social Contagion of Antisocial Behavior

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Milena Tsvetkova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Previous research has shown that reciprocity can be contagious when there is no option to repay the benefactor and the recipient instead channels repayment toward strangers. In this study, we test whether retaliation can also be contagious. Extending previous work on “paying it forward,” we tested two mechanisms for the social contagion of antisocial behavior: generalized reciprocity (a victim of antisocial behavior is more likely to pay it forward and third-party influence (an observer of antisocial behavior is more likely to emulate it. We used an online experiment with randomized trials to test the two hypothesized mechanisms and their interaction by manipulating the extent to which participants experienced and observed antisocial behavior. We found that people are more likely to harm others if they have been harmed and they are less likely to do so if they observe that others do not harm.
Rewarding and punishing children of different social behavior

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Lalić-Vučetić Nataša

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the actions of rewarding and punishing children of different social behavior. The application of rewarding and punishing demands knowing and fulfilling several conditions which enable their efficiency: the nature of reward and punishment, the way in which pupils receive them, the context in which rewarding and punishing takes place and the characteristics of the subject (age, gender, cognitive capacities, social behavior. It is familiar that teachers prefer pupils who are cooperative, socially responsible, prone to conforming to school rules, kind, friendly and polite, while teacher’s work can often be aggravated on the part of the pupils who are aggressive, asocial, socially irresponsible, disruptive or prone to deviant behavior. In order to accomplish the outcomes which want to be achieved by these procedures, in applying reward and punishment, it is necessary to figure out carefully the criteria of rewarding and punishing and adhere to them consistently, paying attention to the characteristics of social behavior of the pupils. A special chapter is devoted to the consideration of unjust reward and punishment as one of the phenomena present in the experience of a large number of children. The analyzed problems assume adequate preparation of teachers, that is, the knowledge about basic characteristics of upbringing procedures applied in working with pupils, and which will have as a result a more successful social behavior, a more positive attitude towards school and studying.
Marmosets: A Neuroscientific Model of Human Social Behavior

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Freiwald, Winrich A; Leopold, David A; Mitchell, Jude F; Silva, Afonso C; Wang, Xiaoqin

2016-01-01

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) has garnered interest recently as a powerful model for the future of neuroscience research. Much of this excitement has centered on the species’ reproductive biology and compatibility with gene editing techniques, which together have provided a path for transgenic marmosets to contribute to the study of disease as well as basic brain mechanisms. In step with technical advances is the need to establish experimental paradigms that optimally tap into the marmosets’ behavioral and cognitive capacities. While conditioned task performance of a marmoset can compare unfavorably with rhesus monkey performance on conventional testing paradigms, marmosets’ social cognition and communication are more similar to that of humans. For example, marmosets are amongst only a handful of primates that, like humans, routinely pair bond and care cooperatively for their young. They are also notably pro-social and exhibit social cognitive abilities, such as imitation, that are rare outside of the Apes. In this review, we describe key facets of marmoset natural social behavior and demonstrate that emerging behavioral paradigms are well suited to isolate components of marmoset cognition that are highly relevant to humans. These approaches generally embrace natural behavior and communication, which has been rare in conventional primate testing, and thus allow for a new consideration of neural mechanisms underlying primate social cognition and communication. We anticipate that through parallel technical and paradigmatic advances, marmosets will become an essential model of human social behavior, including its dysfunction in nearly all neuropsychiatric disorders. PMID:27100195

Intranasal Oxytocin Failed to Affect Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Social Behavior

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Calcutt, Sarah E.; Burke, Kimberly; de Waal, Frans B. M.

2017-01-01

Oxytocin has been suggested as a treatment to promote positive social interactions in people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, it is difficult to test this effect outside of the laboratory in realistic social situations. One way to resolve this issue is to study behavioral changes in closely related species with complex social relationships, such as chimpanzees. Here, we use captive, socially housed chimpanzees to evaluate the effects of oxytocin in a socially complex environment. After administering intranasal oxytocin or a placebo to an individual chimpanzee (total n = 8), she was returned to her social group. An experimenter blind to the condition measured the subject's social behavior. We failed to find a behavioral difference between conditions. As one of the goals for oxytocin administration as a treatment for ASD is increasing prosocial behaviors during ‘real world’ encounters, it is problematic that we failed to detect behavioral changes in our closest living relatives. However, our null findings may be related to methodological challenges such as determining an effective dose of oxytocin for chimpanzees and how long oxytocin takes to cross the blood-brain barrier. Thus, more research on intranasal oxytocin dosing and uptake are needed to continue exploring whether oxytocin changes social behavior in naturalistic settings and as a treatment for ASD. PMID:28845444
Obesity-related behaviors among poor adolescents and young adults: Is social position associated with risk behaviors?

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Miranda Lucia Ritterman Weintraub

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This cross-sectional study examines multiple dimensions of social position in relation to obesity-related behaviors in an adolescent and young adult population. In addition to using conventional measures of social position, including parental education and household expenditures, we explore the usefulness of three youth-specific measures of social position—community and society subjective social status and school dropout status. Data is taken from a 2004 house-to-house survey of urban households within the bottom 20th percentile of income distribution within seven states in Mexico. A total of 5,321 Mexican adolescents, aged 12-22 years, provided information on obesity-related behaviors (e.g. diet, physical activity, sedentary behavior and indicators of subjective and objective social position. A parent in each household provided information on socioeconomic status of the parent and household. Ordinal logistic regressions are used to estimate the associations of parental, household and adolescent indicators of social position and obesity-related risk behaviors. Those adolescents with the highest odds of adopting obesity risk behaviors were the ones who perceived themselves as lower in social status in reference to their peer community and those who had dropped out of school. We found no significant associations between parental education or household expenditures and obesity-related risk behaviors. Immediate social factors in adolescents' lives may have a strong influence on their health-related behaviors. This study provides evidence for the usefulness of two particular measures, both of which are youth-specific. Adolescents and young adults who have dropped out of school and those with lower perceived relative social position within their community are more likely to be at-risk for obesity-related behaviors than those with higher relative social position. We conclude that youth-specific measures may be important in identifying the most at
Modeling the Impact of Motivation, Personality, and Emotion on Social Behavior

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Miller, Lynn C.; Read, Stephen J.; Zachary, Wayne; Rosoff, Andrew

Models seeking to predict human social behavior must contend with multiple sources of individual and group variability that underlie social behavior. One set of interrelated factors that strongly contribute to that variability - motivations, personality, and emotions - has been only minimally incorporated in previous computational models of social behavior. The Personality, Affect, Culture (PAC) framework is a theory-based computational model that addresses this gap. PAC is used to simulate social agents whose social behavior varies according to their personalities and emotions, which, in turn, vary according to their motivations and underlying motive control parameters. Examples involving disease spread and counter-insurgency operations show how PAC can be used to study behavioral variability in different social contexts.
Social Network Types and Acute Stroke Preparedness Behavior

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Bernadette Boden-Albala

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Presence of informal social networks has been associated with favorable health and behaviors, but whether different types of social networks impact on different health outcomes remains largely unknown. We examined the associations of different social network types (marital dyad, household, friendship, and informal community networks with acute stroke preparedness behavior. We hypothesized that marital dyad best matched the required tasks and is the most effective network type for this behavior. Methods: We collected in-person interview and medical record data for 1,077 adults diagnosed with stroke and transient ischemic attack. We used logistic regression analyses to examine the association of each social network with arrival at the emergency department (ED within 3 h of stroke symptoms. Results: Adjusting for age, race-ethnicity, education, gender, transportation type to ED and vascular diagnosis, being married or living with a partner was significantly associated with early arrival at the ED (odds ratio = 2.0, 95% confidence interval: 1.2–3.1, but no significant univariate or multivariate associations were observed for household, friendship, and community networks. Conclusions: The marital/partnership dyad is the most influential type of social network for stroke preparedness behavior.
Terapia cognitivo-comportamental da fobia social Cognitive-behavioral therapy in social phobia

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Lígia M Ito

2008-10-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Este artigo revisa aspectos relevantes da fobia social e os estágios de tratamento através da terapia cognitivo-comportamental em crianças, adolescentes e adultos. MÉTODO: A partir do banco de dados Medline, realizou-se revisão da literatura publicada a respeito do tratamento da fobia social por meio da terapia cognitivo-comportamental. RESULTADOS: Revisão da literatura sugere que a fobia social é uma condição prevalente e crônica, caracterizada por inibição social e timidez excessiva. Tanto o diagnóstico como o tratamento desse transtorno são comumente determinados pelo nível de incômodo e pelo prejuízo funcional. Estudos populacionais indicam taxas de prevalência ao longo da vida para a fobia social entre 2,5 e 13,3%. As principais técnicas utilizadas na terapia cognitivo-comportamental para a fobia social são descritas e exemplificadas em um relato de caso. CONCLUSÕES: Há consenso geral na literatura de que a terapia cognitivo-comportamental é eficaz tanto para o tratamento de jovens como de adultos com fobia social. Uma vez que a fobia social com freqüência tem início precoce, a identificação de crianças com risco acentuado para o desenvolvimento de fobia social deve ser priorizada em investigações futuras.OBJECTIVE: This article reviews relevant aspects of social phobia and the stages of treatment within cognitive-behavioral therapy in children and adolescents, as well as in adults. METHOD: A review of the literature published on the treatment of social phobia using cognitive-behavioral treatments was performed using the Medline database. RESULTS: A review of the literature suggests that social phobia is a chronic and prevalent condition, characterized by social inhibition and excessive shyness. Diagnosis and treatment of the disorder are usually determined by distress level and functional impairment. Population studies indicate that lifetime prevalence rates for social phobia range from 2.5 to 13
A Brief Social Skills Intervention to Reduce Challenging Classroom Behavior

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McDaniel, Sara C.; Bruhn, Allison L.; Troughton, Leonard

2017-01-01

Social skills instruction has been recommended as a way of improving behavioral and social outcomes for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). A brief social skills intervention ("Stop and Think" (Knoff in "The stop & think social skills program," Sopris West, Longmont, CO, 2001) was used to extend the…
Experimental Evidence that Social Relationships Determine Individual Foraging Behavior.

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Firth, Josh A; Voelkl, Bernhard; Farine, Damien R; Sheldon, Ben C

2015-12-07

Social relationships are fundamental to animals living in complex societies. The extent to which individuals base their decisions around their key social relationships, and the consequences this has on their behavior and broader population level processes, remains unknown. Using a novel experiment that controlled where individual wild birds (great tits, Parus major) could access food, we restricted mated pairs from being allowed to forage at the same locations. This introduced a conflict for pair members between maintaining social relationships and accessing resources. We show that individuals reduce their own access to food in order to sustain their relationships and that individual foraging activity was strongly influenced by their key social counterparts. By affecting where individuals go, social relationships determined which conspecifics they encountered and consequently shaped their other social associations. Hence, while resource distribution can determine individuals' spatial and social environment, we illustrate how key social relationships themselves can govern broader social structure. Finally, social relationships also influenced the development of social foraging strategies. In response to forgoing access to resources, maintaining pair bonds led individuals to develop a flexible "scrounging" strategy, particularly by scrounging from their pair mate. This suggests that behavioral plasticity can develop to ameliorate conflicts between social relationships and other demands. Together, these results illustrate the importance of considering social relationships for explaining behavioral variation due to their significant impact on individual behavior and demonstrate the consequences of key relationships for wider processes. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Breaks Are Better: A Tier II Social Behavior Intervention

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Boyd, R. Justin; Anderson, Cynthia M.

2013-01-01

Multi-tiered systems of social behavioral support in schools provide varying levels of intervention matched to student need. Tier I (primary or universal) systems are for all students and are designed to promote pro-social behavior. Tier III (tertiary or intensive) supports are for students who engage in serious challenging behavior that has not…
Social Influence and Safe Behavior in Manufacturing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hald, Kim Sundtoft

2018-01-01

This research presents a model designed to explore the cognitive and social mechanisms that mediate the relationship between organizational safety climate and safety behaviors. Specifically the presented research demonstrates the usefulness of Sussmann and Vecchio (1982) social influence interpre......This research presents a model designed to explore the cognitive and social mechanisms that mediate the relationship between organizational safety climate and safety behaviors. Specifically the presented research demonstrates the usefulness of Sussmann and Vecchio (1982) social influence...... interpretation of worker motivation to understand safety motivation. Survey data was collected from 428 employees in seven factories within the electronics industry in China. The data were analyzed using structural modelling. The results suggest that factory workers with more knowledge about the products...... that the total effects of a factory workers experience with safety and health problems seems to affect safe work behavior negatively, and that this is caused by a decrease in confidence and abilities to work safely. In relation to practical implications the present study demonstrate how manufacturing managers...
Functional-Based Assessment of Social Behavior: Introduction and Overview.

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Lewis, Timothy J.; Sugai, George

1994-01-01

This introduction to and overview of a special issue on social behavior assessment within schools discusses the impact of function-based methodologies on assessment and intervention practices in identification and remediation of challenging social behaviors. (JDD)
Early life seizures in female rats lead to anxiety-related behavior and abnormal social behavior characterized by reduced motivation to novelty and deficit in social discrimination.

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Castelhano, Adelisandra Silva Santos; Ramos, Fabiane Ochai; Scorza, Fulvio Alexandre; Cysneiros, Roberta Monterazzo

2015-03-01

Previously, we demonstrated that male Wistar rats submitted to neonatal status epilepticus showed abnormal social behavior characterized by deficit in social discrimination and enhanced emotionality. Taking into account that early insult can produce different biological manifestations in a gender-dependent manner, we aimed to investigate the social behavior and anxiety-like behavior in female Wistar rats following early life seizures. Neonate female Wistar rats at 9 days postnatal were subject to pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus and the control received saline. Behavioral tests started from 60 days postnatal and were carried out only during the diestrus phase of the reproductive cycle. In sociability test experimental animals exhibited reduced motivation for social encounter and deficit in social discrimination. In open field and the elevated plus maze, experimental animals showed enhanced emotionality with no changes in basal locomotor activity. The results showed that female rats submitted to neonatal status epipepticus showed impaired social behavior, characterized by reduced motivation to novelty and deficit in social discrimination in addition to enhanced emotionality.
Social class and prosocial behavior: current evidence, caveats, and questions.

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Piff, Paul K; Robinson, Angela R

2017-12-01

This review synthesizes research on social class and prosocial behavior. Individuals of lower social class display increased attention to others and greater sensitivity to others' welfare compared to individuals of higher social class, who exhibit more self-oriented patterns of social cognition. As a result, lower-class individuals are more likely to engage in other-beneficial prosocial behavior, whereas higher-class individuals are more prone to engage in self-beneficial behavior. Although the extant evidence indicates that higher social class standing may tend to undermine prosocial impulses, we propose that the effects of social class on prosocial behavior may also depend on three crucial factors: motivation, identity, and inequality. We discuss how and why these factors may moderate class differences in prosociality and offer promising lines of inquiry for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Sexual function and behavior in social phobia.

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Bodinger, Liron; Hermesh, Haggai; Aizenberg, Dov; Valevski, Avi; Marom, Sofi; Shiloh, Roni; Gothelf, Doron; Zemishlany, Zvi; Weizman, Abraham

2002-10-01

Social phobia is a type of performance and interpersonal anxiety disorder and as such may be associated with sexual dysfunction and avoidance. The aim of the present study was to evaluate sexual function and behavior in patients with social phobia compared with mentally healthy subjects. Eighty subjects participated in the study: 40 consecutive, drug-free outpatients with social phobia (DSM-IV) attending an anxiety disorders clinic between November 1997 and April 1999 and 40 mentally normal controls. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale were used to quantitatively and qualitatively assess sexual function and behavior. Men with social phobia reported mainly moderate impairment in arousal, orgasm, sexual enjoyment, and subjective satisfaction domains. Women with social phobia reported severe impairment in desire, arousal, sexual activity, and subjective satisfaction. In addition, compared with controls, men with social phobia reported significantly more frequent paid sex (p social phobia reported a significant paucity of sexual partners (p social phobia exhibit a wide range of sexual dysfunctions. Men have mainly performance problems, and women have a more pervasive disorder. Patients of both genders show difficulties in sexual interaction. It is important that clinicians be aware of this aspect of social phobia and initiate open discussions of sexual problems with patients.
Social inclusion facilitates risky mating behavior in men.

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Sacco, Donald F; Brown, Christina M; Young, Steven G; Bernstein, Michael J; Hugenberg, Kurt

2011-07-01

Although past research has reliably established unique effects of social exclusion on human cognition and behavior, the current research focuses on the unique effects of social inclusion. Recent evidence indicates that social inclusion leads to enhanced prioritization of reproductive interests. The current study extends these findings by showing that the pursuit of these inclusion-induced reproductive goals occurs in sex-specific ways. Across three experiments, social inclusion led men, but not women, to endorse riskier, more aggressive mating strategies compared to control and socially excluded participants. Specifically, included men were more likely to endorse sexual aggression (Experiment 1), high-risk mate poaching behaviors (Experiment 2), and high-risk mate retention tactics (Experiment 3). These results demonstrate that the experience of social inclusion can affect sex-differentiated preferences for risky mating strategies. © 2011 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc
The Impact of Robot Tutor Nonverbal Social Behavior on Child Learning

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James Kennedy

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Several studies have indicated that interacting with social robots in educational contexts may lead to a greater learning than interactions with computers or virtual agents. As such, an increasing amount of social human–robot interaction research is being conducted in the learning domain, particularly with children. However, it is unclear precisely what social behavior a robot should employ in such interactions. Inspiration can be taken from human–human studies; this often leads to an assumption that the more social behavior an agent utilizes, the better the learning outcome will be. We apply a nonverbal behavior metric to a series of studies in which children are taught how to identify prime numbers by a robot with various behavioral manipulations. We find a trend, which generally agrees with the pedagogy literature, but also that overt nonverbal behavior does not account for all learning differences. We discuss the impact of novelty, child expectations, and responses to social cues to further the understanding of the relationship between robot social behavior and learning. We suggest that the combination of nonverbal behavior and social cue congruency is necessary to facilitate learning.
Social Dynamics Management and Functional Behavioral Assessment

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Lee, David L.

2018-01-01

Managing social dynamics is a critical aspect of creating a positive learning environment in classrooms. In this paper three key interrelated ideas, reinforcement, function, and motivating operations, are discussed with relation to managing social behavior.
Social isolation affects partner-directed social behavior and cortisol during pair formation in marmosets, Callithrix geoffroyi.

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Smith, Adam S; Birnie, Andrew K; French, Jeffrey A

2011-10-24

Pair-bonded relationships form during periods of close spatial proximity and high sociosexual contact. Like other monogamous species, marmosets form new social pairs after emigration or ejection from their natal group resulting in periods of social isolation. Thus, pair formation often occurs following a period of social instability and a concomitant elevation in stress physiology. Research is needed to assess the effects that prolonged social isolation has on the behavioral and cortisol response to the formation of a new social pair. We examined the sociosexual behavior and cortisol during the first 90-days of cohabitation in male and female Geoffroy's tufted-ear marmosets (Callithrix geoffroyi) paired either directly from their natal group (Natal-P) or after a prolonged period of social isolation (ISO-P). Social isolation prior to pairing seemed to influence cortisol levels, social contact, and grooming behavior; however, sexual behavior was not affected. Cortisol levels were transiently elevated in all paired marmosets compared to natal-housed marmosets. However, ISO-P marmosets had higher cortisol levels throughout the observed pairing period compared to Natal-P marmoset. This suggests that the social instability of pair formation may lead to a transient increase in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity while isolation results in a prolonged HPA axis dysregulation. In addition, female social contact behavior was associated with higher cortisol levels at the onset of pairing; however, this was not observed in males. Thus, isolation-induced social contact with a new social partner may be enhanced by HPA axis activation, or a moderating factor. Published by Elsevier Inc.
How can social network analysis contribute to social behavior research in applied ethology?

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Makagon, Maja M; McCowan, Brenda; Mench, Joy A

2012-05-01

Social network analysis is increasingly used by behavioral ecologists and primatologists to describe the patterns and quality of interactions among individuals. We provide an overview of this methodology, with examples illustrating how it can be used to study social behavior in applied contexts. Like most kinds of social interaction analyses, social network analysis provides information about direct relationships (e.g. dominant-subordinate relationships). However, it also generates a more global model of social organization that determines how individual patterns of social interaction relate to individual and group characteristics. A particular strength of this approach is that it provides standardized mathematical methods for calculating metrics of sociality across levels of social organization, from the population and group levels to the individual level. At the group level these metrics can be used to track changes in social network structures over time, evaluate the effect of the environment on social network structure, or compare social structures across groups, populations or species. At the individual level, the metrics allow quantification of the heterogeneity of social experience within groups and identification of individuals who may play especially important roles in maintaining social stability or information flow throughout the network.
Social gradients in child and adolescent antisocial behavior: a systematic review protocol

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Piotrowska Patrycja J

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The relationship between social position and physical health is well-established across a range of studies. The evidence base regarding social position and mental health is less well developed, particularly regarding the development of antisocial behavior. Some evidence demonstrates a social gradient in behavioral problems, with children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds experiencing more behavioral difficulties than children from high-socioeconomic families. Antisocial behavior is a heterogeneous concept that encompasses behaviors as diverse as physical fighting, vandalism, stealing, status violation and disobedience to adults. Whether all forms of antisocial behavior show identical social gradients is unclear from previous published research. The mechanisms underlying social gradients in antisocial behavior, such as neighborhood characteristics and family processes, have not been fully elucidated. This review will synthesize findings on the social gradient in antisocial behavior, considering variation across the range of antisocial behaviors and evidence regarding the mechanisms that might underlie the identified gradients. Methods In this review, an extensive manual and electronic literature search will be conducted for papers published from 1960 to 2011. The review will include empirical and quantitative studies of children and adolescents ( Discussion This systematic review has been proposed in order to synthesize cross-disciplinary evidence of the social gradient in antisocial behavior and mechanisms underlying this effect. The results of the review will inform social policies aiming to reduce social inequalities and levels of antisocial behavior, and identify gaps in the present literature to guide further research.
Dynamic changes in extracellular release of GABA and glutamate in the lateral septum during social play behavior in juvenile rats: Implications for sex-specific regulation of social play behavior

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Bredewold, Remco; Schiavo, Jennifer K.; van der Hart, Marieke; Verreij, Michelle; Veenema, Alexa H.

2015-01-01

Social play is a motivated and rewarding behavior that is displayed by nearly all mammals and peaks in the juvenile period. Moreover, social play is essential for the development of social skills and is impaired in social disorders like autism. We recently showed that the lateral septum (LS) is involved in the regulation of social play behavior in juvenile male and female rats. The LS is largely modulated by GABA and glutamate neurotransmission, but their role in social play behavior is unknown. Here, we determined whether social play behavior is associated with changes in the extracellular release of GABA and glutamate in the LS and to what extent such changes modulate social play behavior in male and female juvenile rats. Using intracerebral microdialysis in freely behaving rats, we found no sex difference in extracellular GABA concentrations, but extracellular glutamate concentrations are higher in males than in females under baseline condition and during social play. This resulted in a higher glutamate/GABA concentration ratio in males versus females and thus, an excitatory predominance in the LS of males. Furthermore, social play behavior in both sexes is associated with significant increases in extracellular release of GABA and glutamate in the LS. Pharmacological blockade of GABA-A receptors in the LS with bicuculline (100 ng/0.5 µl, 250 ng/0.5 µl) dose-dependently decreased the duration of social play behavior in both sexes. In contrast, pharmacological blockade of ionotropic glutamate receptors (NMDA and AMPA/kainate receptors) in the LS with AP-5 + CNQX (2 mM+0.4 mM/0.5 µl, 30 mM+3 mM/0.5 µl) dose-dependently decreased the duration of social play behavior in females, but did not alter social play behavior in males. Together, these data suggest a role for GABA neurotransmission in the LS in the regulation of juvenile social play behavior in both sexes, while glutamate neurotransmission in the LS is involved in the sex-specific regulation of juvenile

Cannabis Use Behaviors and Social Anxiety: The Roles of Perceived Descriptive and Injunctive Social Norms

Science.gov (United States)

Ecker, Anthony H.; Buckner, Julia D.

2014-01-01

Objective: Individuals with greater social anxiety are particularly vulnerable to cannabis-related impairment. Descriptive norms (beliefs about others’ use) and injunctive norms (beliefs regarding others’ approval of risky use) may be particularly relevant to cannabis-related behaviors among socially anxious persons if they use cannabis for fear of evaluation for deviating from what they believe to be normative behaviors. Yet, little research has examined the impact of these social norms on the relationships between social anxiety and cannabis use behaviors. Method: The current study investigated whether the relationships of social anxiety to cannabis use and use-related problems varied as a function of social norms. The sample comprised 230 (63.0% female) current cannabis-using undergraduates. Results: Injunctive norms (regarding parents, not friends) moderated the relationship between social anxiety and cannabis-related problem severity. Post hoc probing indicated that among participants with higher (but not lower) social anxiety, those with greater norm endorsement reported the most severe impairment. Injunctive norms (parents) also moderated the relationship between social anxiety and cannabis use frequency such that those with higher social anxiety and lower norm endorsement used cannabis less frequently. Descriptive norms did not moderate the relationship between social anxiety and cannabis use frequency. Conclusions: Socially anxious cannabis users appear to be especially influenced by beliefs regarding parents’ approval of risky cannabis use. Results underscore the importance of considering reference groups and the specific types of norms in understanding factors related to cannabis use behaviors among this vulnerable population. PMID:24411799
Lessons from social network analyses for behavioral medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenquist, James N

2011-03-01

This study presents an overview of the rapidly expanding field of social network analysis, with an emphasis placed on work relevant to behavioral health clinicians and researchers. I outline how social network analysis is a distinct empirical methodology within the social sciences that has the potential to deepen our understanding of how mental health and addiction are influenced by social environmental factors. Whereas there have been a number of recent studies in the mental health literature that discuss social influences on mental illness and addiction, and a number of studies looking at how social networks influence health and behaviors, there are still relatively few studies that combine the two. Those that have suggest that mood symptoms as well as alcohol consumption are clustered within, and may travel along, social networks. Social networks appear to have an important influence on a variety of mental health conditions. This avenue of research has the potential to influence both clinical practice and public policy.
Face to (face)book: the two faces of social behavior?

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Ivcevic, Zorana; Ambady, Nalini

2013-06-01

Social networking sites such as Facebook represent a unique and dynamic social environment. This study addresses three theoretical issues in personality psychology in the context of online social networking sites: (a) the temporal consistency of Facebook activity, (b) people's awareness of their online behavior, and (c) comparison of social behavior on Facebook with self- and informant-reported behavior in real life. Facebook Wall pages of 99 college students (mean age = 19.72) were downloaded six times during 3 weeks and coded for quantity and quality of activity. Everyday social interactions were assessed by self- and friend report. Facebook activity showed significant consistency across time, and people demonstrated awareness of their online behavior. There was significant similarity between everyday traits and interactions and Facebook behavior (e.g., more posts by friends are related to Agreeableness). Some differences between online and everyday interactions warrant further research (e.g., individuals with more positive offline relationships are less likely to engage in back-and-forth conversations on Facebook). The results indicate substantial similarity between online and offline social behavior and identify avenues for future research on the possible use of Facebook to compensate for difficulty in everyday interactions. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Light phase testing of social behaviors: not a problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mu Yang

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The rich repertoire of mouse social behaviors makes it possible to use mouse models to study neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social deficits. The fact that mice are naturally nocturnal animals raises a critical question of whether behavioral experiments should be strictly conducted in the dark phase and whether light phase testing is a major methodologically mistake. Although mouse social tasks have been performed in both phases in different laboratories, there seems to be no general consensus on whether testing phase is a critical factor or not. A recent study from our group showed remarkably similar social scores obtained from inbred mice tested in the light and the dark phase, providing evidence that light phase testing could yield reliable results as robust as dark phase testing for the sociability test. Here we offer a comprehensive review on mouse social behaviors measured in light and dark phases and explain why it is reasonable to test laboratory mice in experimental social tasks in the light phase.
Wild chimpanzees can perform social grooming and social play behaviors simultaneously.

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Shimada, Masaki

2013-10-01

Reliable evidence was obtained of the simultaneous performance of social grooming and social play behaviors by individuals among wild chimpanzees of the M group in Mahale Mountains National Park. I observed three cases of this performance: in an old female, a young female, and an adult male. While the agent was grooming the back of an adult bimanually, an infant or a juvenile approached the agent. The agent then started playing with the infant/juvenile using only the right hand, while simultaneously grooming the back of the adult with the left hand. In one case, an old female continued the simultaneous performance for about 1 min. Such performances probably occur at low frequency because they are not often required. The similarity in the neurobiological bases and the functions of social grooming and social play behaviors, both of which include repetitive contact with the body of another individual, may facilitate their simultaneous performance.
Appropriate Social Behavior: Teaching Expectations to Young Children

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Carter, Deborah Russell; Pool, Juli Lull

2012-01-01

Young children's challenging behavior can impact all aspects of the classroom environment, including relationships (peer-peer, student-teacher), learning, and safety. Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a program that focuses on supporting pro-social behaviors and preventing challenging behavior. PBIS begins with building a…
Social Adversity and Antisocial Behavior: Mediating Effects of Autonomic Nervous System Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Fagan, Shawn E; Zhang, Wei; Gao, Yu

2017-11-01

The display of antisocial behaviors in children and adolescents has been of interest to criminologists and developmental psychologists for years. Exposure to social adversity is a well-documented predictor of antisocial behavior. Additionally, measures of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, including heart rate variability (HRV), pre-ejection period (PEP), and heart rate, have been associated with antisocial behaviors including rule-breaking and aggression. Social neuroscience research has begun to investigate how neurobiological underpinnings affect the relationship between social adversity and antisocial/psychopathic behavior in children and adolescents. This study investigated the potential mediating effects of ANS activity on the relationship between social adversity and antisocial behavior in a group of 7- to 10-year-old children from the community (N = 339; 48.2% male). Moderated multiple mediation analyses revealed that low resting heart rate, but not PEP or HRV, mediated the relationship between social adversity and antisocial behavior in males only. Social adversity but not ANS measures were associated with antisocial behavior in females. Findings have implications for understanding the neural influences that underlie antisocial behavior, illustrate the importance of the social environment regarding the expression of these behaviors, and highlight essential gender differences.
Gonadectomy Negatively Impacts Social Behavior of Adolescent Male Primates

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, A. Brent; Morris, Richard W.; Ward, Sarah; Schmitz, Stephanie; Rothmond, Debora A.; Noble, Pam L.; Woodward, Ruth A.; Winslow, James T.; Weickert, Cynthia Shannon

2009-01-01

Social behavior changes dramatically during primate adolescence. However, the extent to which testosterone and other gonadal hormones are necessary for adolescent social behavioral development is unknown. In this study, we determined that gonadectomy significantly impairs social dominance in naturalistic settings and changes reactions to social stimuli in experimental settings. Rhesus macaques were castrated (n = 6) or sham operated (n = 6) at age 2.4 years, group-housed for 2 years, and ethograms were collected weekly. During adolescence the gonadally intact monkeys displayed a decrease in subordinate behaviors and an increase in dominant behaviors, which ultimately related to a rise in social status and rank in the dominance hierarchy. We measured monkey’s reactions to emotional faces (fear, threat, neutral) of conspecifics of three ages (adult, peer, infant). Intact monkeys were faster to retrieve a treat in front of a threatening or infant face, while castrated monkeys did not show a differential response to different emotional faces or ages. No group difference in reaction to an innate fear-eliciting object (snake) was found. Approach and proximity responses to familiar versus unfamiliar conspecifics were tested, and intact monkeys spent more time proximal to a novel conspecific as compared to castrates who tended to spend more time with a familiar conspecific. No group differences in time spent with novel or familiar objects were found. Thus, gonadectomy resulted in the emergence of significantly different responses to social stimuli, but not non-social stimuli. Our work suggests that intact gonads, which are needed to produce adolescent increases in circulating testosterone, impact social behavior during adolescences in primates. PMID:19361511
Nonverbal behavior during face-to-face social interaction in schizophrenia: a review.

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Lavelle, Mary; Healey, Patrick G T; McCabe, Rosemarie

2014-01-01

Patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia display social cognitive deficits. However, little is known about patients' nonverbal communication during their social encounters with others. This review identified 17 studies investigating nonverbal communication in patients' unscripted face-to-face interactions, addressing a) nonverbal differences between patients and others, b) nonverbal behavior of the patients' partners, c) the association between nonverbal behavior and symptoms, and d) the association between nonverbal behavior and social outcomes. Patients displayed fewer nonverbal behaviors inviting interaction, with negative symptoms exacerbating this pattern. Positive symptoms were associated with heightened nonverbal behavior. Patients' partners changed their own nonverbal behavior in response to the patient. Reduced prosocial behaviors, inviting interaction, were associated with poorer social outcomes. The evidence suggests that patients' nonverbal behavior, during face-to-face interaction, is influenced by patients symptoms and impacts the success of their social interactions.
Information-seeking behavior of social sciences scholars: A Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article examines the information-seeking behavior of scholars in the social sciences, based on the premise that information-seeking behavior follows universally applicable stages and patterns worldwide. The study was conducted at the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER). Fifty eight active ...
Social behavior and aggressive problems of cats.

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Crowell-Davis, S L; Barry, K; Wolfe, R

1997-05-01

Cats form social groups in which individuals recognize each other, and the cohesiveness of the group is maintained by a variety of amicable behaviors. Agonistic behavior may occur between group members and between group members and nongroup members. Within the domestic environment, agonistic behavior may become a problem when it is directed at housemates or humans. Differential diagnosis and treatment of various problems of aggressive behavior are discussed.
Social Network Assessments and Interventions for Health Behavior Change: A Critical Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Latkin, Carl A; Knowlton, Amy R

2015-01-01

Social networks provide a powerful approach for health behavior change. This article documents how social network interventions have been successfully used for a range of health behaviors, including HIV risk practices, smoking, exercise, dieting, family planning, bullying, and mental health. We review the literature that suggests the relationship between health behaviors and social network attributes demonstrates a high degree of specificity. The article then examines hypothesized social influence mechanisms including social norms, modeling, and social rewards and the factors of social identity and social rewards that can be employed to sustain social network interventions. Areas of future research avenues are highlighted, including the need to examine and to adjust analytically for contamination and social diffusion, social influence versus differential affiliation, and network change. Use and integration of mhealth and face-to-face networks for promoting health behavior change are also critical research areas.
An approach to children's smoking behavior using social cognitive learning theory.

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Bektas, Murat; Ozturk, Candan; Armstrong, Merry

2010-01-01

This review article discusses the theoretical principles of social cognitive learning theory and children's risk-taking behavior of cigarette smoking, along with preventive initiatives. Social cognitive learning theorists examine the behavior of initiating and sustained smoking using a social systems approach. The authors discuss the reciprocal determinism aspect of the theory as applied to the importance of individual factors, and environment and behavioral interactions that influence smoking behavior. Included is the concept of vicarious capability that suggests that smoking behavior is determined in response to and interaction with feedback provided by the environment. The principle of self-regulatory capability asserts that people have control over their own behavior and thus that behavior change is possible. The principle of self-efficacy proposes that high level of self-efficacy of an individual may decrease the behavior of attempting to or continuing to smoke. Examples of initiatives to be undertaken in order to prevent smoking in accordance with social cognitive learning theory are presented at the end of each principle.
Hormone response to bidirectional selection on social behavior.

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Amdam, Gro V; Page, Robert E; Fondrk, M Kim; Brent, Colin S

2010-01-01

Behavior is a quantitative trait determined by multiple genes. Some of these genes may have effects from early development and onward by influencing hormonal systems that are active during different life-stages leading to complex associations, or suites, of traits. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) have been used extensively in experiments on the genetic and hormonal control of complex social behavior, but the relationships between their early developmental processes and adult behavioral variation are not well understood. Bidirectional selective breeding on social food-storage behavior produced two honey bee strains, each with several sublines, that differ in an associated suite of anatomical, physiological, and behavioral traits found in unselected wild type bees. Using these genotypes, we document strain-specific changes during larval, pupal, and early adult life-stages for the central insect hormones juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroids. Strain differences correlate with variation in female reproductive anatomy (ovary size), which can be influenced by JH during development, and with secretion rates of ecdysteroid from the ovaries of adults. Ovary size was previously assigned to the suite of traits of honey bee food-storage behavior. Our findings support that bidirectional selection on honey bee social behavior acted on pleiotropic gene networks. These networks may bias a bee's adult phenotype by endocrine effects on early developmental processes that regulate variation in reproductive traits. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Behavioral and Social Sciences.

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Simon, Herbert A.

1980-01-01

This article reviews some recent technical progress in the social sciences and three frontier areas including evolutionary theory as related to sociobiology, the theory of human rational choice, and cognitive science. These areas offer explanations for broad areas of human behavior. (Author/SA)
Social Capital And Economic Behavior Of Farmers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heliawaty

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Abstrac The purpose of this study to analyze the relationship between social capital affects economic behavior in producing coffee plants in improving coffee farmers income. This study was conducted in the district of Bantaeng South Sulawesi. Subdistrict Tampobulu selected purposively. The study lasted for four months of April to July 2014. The data used in this study consist of primary data and secondary data. It can be concluded that social capital is trust networking and institutions affect economic behavior namely the production of coffee plants. Trust improving technology adoption Robusta and Arabica coffee cuttings while distrust led to rampant theft of coffee is still green. Networking affect the price of coffee and institutions influence the behavior of farmers in obtaining venture capital through middlemen. It is expected that future studies should be focused on the factors that influence the innovative behavior in increasing the production of coffee plants.
Analyzing user behavior across social sharing environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meo, P.; Ferrara, E.; Abel, F.; Aroyo, L.M.; Houben, G.J

2015-01-01

In this work we present an in-depth analysis of the user behaviors on different Social Sharing systems. We consider three popular platforms, Flickr, Delicious and StumbleUpon, and, by combining techniques from social network analysis with techniques from semantic analysis, we characterize the
Social media and college student risk behaviors: A mini-review.

Science.gov (United States)

Groth, Gabrielle G; Longo, Laura M; Martin, Jessica L

2017-02-01

Use of social media use is widespread and frequent among college students. Posting photos and text related to risk behaviors (e.g., problematic alcohol use, illicit drug use) on social media websites is common and has been linked to personal substance use and negative outcomes. This mini-review summarizes current findings related to associations between college students' social media use and engagement in risk behaviors. Conducting research on social media poses unique challenges for researchers; these challenges are reviewed and their impact on the state of the current literature discussed. Finally, implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed as well as recommendations regarding future research in the area of social media and college student risk behaviors. Copyright Â© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Social distance and behavioral attributes of developmentally handicapped and normal children.

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Sherman, L W; Burgess, D E

1985-12-01

20 behavioral attributes predicting social distance were examined among 101 junior high school students in six classrooms. The sample included 8 developmentally handicapped students, of whom at least one of each was mainstreamed into each classroom. Subjects were predominantly white, middle-class, suburban midwesterners. A sociometric nomination measure was used to obtain behavioral attribute profiles of the students which were then used to predict a psychometric measure of social distance. Handicapped students were not more socially distant than their normal peers. Factor analysis of the 20 behavioral attributes yielded four factors, three of which were significant predictors of classroom social distance, accounting for better than half the variance in social distance. These were described as Incompetent/Unassertive, Positive/Active/Assertive, and Passive/Unassertive. Social rejection in mainstreamed classrooms is more a function of perceived behavioral attributes than the label developmentally handicapped.
Aggression and prosocial behaviors in social conflicts mediating the influence of cold social intelligence and affective empathy on children's social preference.

Science.gov (United States)

Carreras, M R; Braza, P; Muñoz, J M; Braza, F; Azurmendi, A; Pascual-Sagastizabal, E; Cardas, J; Sánchez-Martín, J R

2014-08-01

This study proposes a model in which aggressive and prosocial behaviors exhibited in social conflicts mediate the influence of empathy and social intelligence to children's social preference by same-sex peers. Data were obtained from kindergarten to the end of the first grade. The sample yielded 117 Spanish children (64 girls and 53 boys) with a mean age of 62.8 months (SD = 3.3) at the beginning of the study. For boys, affective empathy contributed to boys' social preference through a decrease in physical aggression as responses to social conflict. For girls, affective empathy had an indirect effect on girls' preference by increasing assistance to others in their conflicts. No mediating effect in the contribution of social intelligence on girls' social preference was detected. Our results suggest that, only for girls, cold social intelligence can promote both indirect aggression (coercive strategic that do not leave social preference, at least at these ages) and behaviors that lead social preference (such as prosocial behaviors). © 2014 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Social Learning Model of Adolescent Contraceptive Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Balassone, Mary Lou

1991-01-01

Research findings and theories regarding adolescent contraceptive use are reviewed to propose an alternative framework relying on social learning theory. Environmental context, cognitive influences, and behavior execution constraints are suggested as the foundation for contraceptive behaviors. The behavioral skills teenagers need to use birth…
Development and Examination of Personal and Social Responsibility Behaviors Scale

OpenAIRE

Bijen FİLİZ; Gıyasettin DEMİRHAN

2018-01-01

In this study, “Personal and Social Responsibility Behaviors Scale (PSRB-S)” was developed in order to determine students’ responsibility behaviors in accordance with “Personal and Social Responsibility” model developed by Don Hellison and students’ personal and social responsibility levels were examined in terms of gender, age and years of sport practice through this scale. Pertaining to personal and social dimension of responsibility, four-category Likert type trial scale consisting of 52 i...
Sex Differences in Social Behavior: Are the Social Role and Evolutionary Explanations Compatible?

Science.gov (United States)

Archer, John

1996-01-01

Examines competing claims of two explanations of sex differences in social behavior, social role theory, and evolutionary psychology. Findings associated with social role theory are weighed against evolutionary explanations. It is suggested that evolutionary theory better accounts for the overall pattern of sex differences and for their origins.…
Networking for philanthropy: increasing volunteer behavior via social networking sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yoojung; Lee, Wei-Na

2014-03-01

Social networking sites (SNSs) provide a unique social venue to engage the young generation in philanthropy through their networking capabilities. An integrated model that incorporates social capital into the Theory of Reasoned Action is developed to explain volunteer behavior through social networks. As expected, volunteer behavior was predicted by volunteer intention, which was influenced by attitudes and subjective norms. In addition, social capital, an outcome of the extensive use of SNSs, was as an important driver of users' attitude and subjective norms toward volunteering via SNSs.
Peer Positive Social Control and Men's Health-Promoting Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Houle, Janie; Meunier, Sophie; Coulombe, Simon; Mercerat, Coralie; Gaboury, Isabelle; Tremblay, Gilles; de Montigny, Francine; Cloutier, Lyne; Roy, Bernard; Auger, Nathalie; Lavoie, Brigitte

2017-09-01

Men are generally thought to be less inclined to take care of their health. To date, most studies about men's health have focused on deficits in self-care and difficulties in dealing with this sphere of their life. The present study reframes this perspective, using a salutogenic strengths-based approach and seeking to identify variables that influence men to take care of their health, rather than neglect it. This study focuses on the association between peer positive social control and men's health behaviors, while controlling for other important individual and social determinants (sociodemographic characteristics, health self-efficacy, home neighborhood, spousal positive social control, and the restrictive emotionality norm). In a mixed-method study, 669 men answered a self-reported questionnaire, and interviews were conducted with a maximum variation sample of 31 men. Quantitative results indicated that, even after controlling for sociodemographic variables and other important factors, peer positive social control was significantly associated with the six health behaviors measured in the study (health responsibility, nutrition, physical activity, interpersonal relations, stress management, and spirituality). Interview results revealed that peer positive social control influenced men's health behaviors through three different mechanisms: shared activity, being inspired, and serving as a positive role model for others. In summary, friends and coworkers could play a significant role in promoting various health behaviors among adult men in their daily life. Encouraging men to socialize and discuss health, and capitalizing on healthy men as role models appear to be effective ways to influence health behavior adoption among this specific population.
Reinstatement of long-term memory following erasure of its behavioral and synaptic expression in Aplysia

OpenAIRE

Chen, Shanping; Cai, Diancai; Pearce, Kaycey; Sun, Philip Y-W; Roberts, Adam C; Glanzman, David L

2014-01-01

eLife digest Cells called neurons allow information to travel quickly around the body so that we can rapidly respond to any changes that we sense in our environment. This includes non-conscious reactions, such as the knee-jerk reflex in humans. Reflexes and other behaviors can be influenced by long-term memory, and it is thought that long-term memory is stored by changes in the synapses that connect neurons to each other. The reflexes of a sea slug known as Aplysia are often used to study mem...
Function and structure in social brain regions can link oxytocin-receptor genes with autistic social behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamasue, Hidenori

2013-02-01

Difficulties in appropriate social and communicative behaviors are the most prevalent and core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Although recent intensive research has focused on the neurobiological background of these difficulties, many aspects of them were not yet elucidated. Recent studies have employed multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indices as intermediate phenotypes of this behavioral phenotype to link candidate genes with the autistic social difficulty. As MRI indices, functional MRI (fMRI), structural MRI, and MR-spectroscopy have been examined in subjects with autism spectrum disorders. As candidate genes, this mini-review has much interest in oxytocin-receptor genes (OXTR), since recent studies have repeatedly reported their associations with normal variations in social cognition and behavior as well as with their extremes, autistic social dysfunction. Through previous increasing studies, medial prefrontal cortex, hypothalamus and amygdala have repeatedly been revealed as neural correlates of autistic social behavior by MRI multimodalities and their relationship to OXTR. For further development of this research area, this mini-review integrates recent accumulating evidence about human behavioral and neural correlates of OXTR. Copyright © 2012 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Social-emotional and behavioral adjustment in children with Williams-Beuren syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Gosch, A; Pankau, R

1994-12-01

In children with Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS), disturbed behaviors (neurotic, antisocial, and hyperactive) [Arnold et al., 1985: Dev Med Child Neurol 27:49-59; Udwin et al., 1987: J Child Psychol Psychiat 28:297-309] have been described. To study the behavior disturbances and social-emotional adjustment in children with WBS, a group of N = 19 patients was compared with a control group, matched for age, gender, and nonverbal reasoning abilities. Parents were asked to assess the children's behavior in terms of a list of 20 items of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) [Achenbach and Edelbrock, 1983: Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist] and the Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) [Lüer et al., 1972: Kurzform der Vineland Social Maturity Scale]. As compared with the control group, children with WBS differ significantly in their social behavior towards strangers. They exhibit no reserve or distancing behavior and would, for instance, follow a stranger without hesitation. They are described as showing a hypersensitivity to sounds that is more pronounced than in the control group. Finally, they are found to be significantly less well-adjusted socially than the control individuals.
Optogenetic insights on the relationship between anxiety-related behaviors and social deficits

Science.gov (United States)

Allsop, Stephen A.; Vander Weele, Caitlin M.; Wichmann, Romy; Tye, Kay M.

2014-01-01

Many psychiatric illnesses are characterized by deficits in the social domain. For example, there is a high rate of co-morbidity between autism spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders. However, the common neural circuit mechanisms by which social deficits and other psychiatric disease states, such as anxiety, are co-expressed remains unclear. Here, we review optogenetic investigations of neural circuits in animal models of anxiety-related behaviors and social behaviors and discuss the important role of the amygdala in mediating aspects of these behaviors. In particular, we focus on recent evidence that projections from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) to the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) modulate anxiety-related behaviors and also alter social interaction. Understanding how this circuit influences both social behavior and anxiety may provide a mechanistic explanation for the pathogenesis of social anxiety disorder, as well as the prevalence of patients co-diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders. Furthermore, elucidating how circuits that modulate social behavior also mediate other complex emotional states will lead to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms by which social deficits are expressed in psychiatric disease. PMID:25076878
Assessing Behavioral Stages From Social Media Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jason; Weitzman, Elissa R; Chunara, Rumi

2017-01-01

Important work rooted in psychological theory posits that health behavior change occurs through a series of discrete stages. Our work builds on the field of social computing by identifying how social media data can be used to resolve behavior stages at high resolution (e.g. hourly/daily) for key population subgroups and times. In essence this approach opens new opportunities to advance psychological theories and better understand how our health is shaped based on the real, dynamic, and rapid actions we make every day. To do so, we bring together domain knowledge and machine learning methods to form a hierarchical classification of Twitter data that resolves different stages of behavior. We identify and examine temporal patterns of the identified stages, with alcohol as a use case (planning or looking to drink, currently drinking, and reflecting on drinking). Known seasonal trends are compared with findings from our methods. We discuss the potential health policy implications of detecting high frequency behavior stages.
Ethanol intake under social circumstances or alone in sprague-dawley rats: impact of age, sex, social activity, and social anxiety-like behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Varlinskaya, Elena I; Truxell, Eric M; Spear, Linda P

2015-01-01

In human adolescents, heavy drinking is often predicted by high sociability in males and high social anxiety in females. This study assessed the impact of baseline levels of social activity and social anxiety-like behavior in group-housed adolescent and adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats on ethanol (EtOH) intake when drinking alone or in a social group. Social activity and anxiety-like behavior initially were assessed in a modified social interaction test, followed by 6 drinking sessions that occurred every other day in animals given ad libitum food and water. Sessions consisted of 30-minute access to 10% EtOH in a "supersac" (3% sucrose + 0.1% saccharin) solution given alone as well as in groups of 5 same-sex littermates, with order of the alternating session types counterbalanced across animals. Adolescent males and adults of both sexes overall consumed more EtOH under social than alone circumstances, whereas adolescent females ingested more EtOH when alone. Highly socially active adolescent males demonstrated elevated levels of EtOH intake relative to their low and medium socially active counterparts when drinking in groups, but not when tested alone. Adolescent females with high levels of social anxiety-like behavior demonstrated the highest EtOH intake under social, but not alone circumstances. Among adults, baseline levels of social anxiety-like behavior did not contribute to individual differences in EtOH intake in either sex. The results clearly demonstrate that in adolescent rats, but not their adult counterparts, responsiveness to a social peer predicts EtOH intake in a social setting-circumstances under which drinking typically occurs in human adolescents. High levels of social activity in males and high levels of social anxiety-like behavior in females were associated with elevated social drinking, suggesting that males ingest EtOH for its socially enhancing properties, whereas females ingest EtOH for its socially anxiolytic effects. Copyright
Social identity shapes social valuation: evidence from prosocial behavior and vicarious reward.

Science.gov (United States)

Hackel, Leor M; Zaki, Jamil; Van Bavel, Jay J

2017-08-01

People frequently engage in more prosocial behavior toward members of their own groups, as compared to other groups. Such group-based prosociality may reflect either strategic considerations concerning one's own future outcomes or intrinsic value placed on the outcomes of in-group members. In a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, we examined vicarious reward responses to witnessing the monetary gains of in-group and out-group members, as well as prosocial behavior towards both types of individuals. We found that individuals' investment in their group-a motivational component of social identification-tracked the intensity of their responses in ventral striatum to in-group (vs out-group) members' rewards, as well as their tendency towards group-based prosociality. Individuals with strong motivational investment in their group preferred rewards for an in-group member, whereas individuals with low investment preferred rewards for an out-group member. These findings suggest that the motivational importance of social identity-beyond mere similarity to group members-influences vicarious reward and prosocial behavior. More broadly, these findings support a theoretical framework in which salient social identities can influence neural representations of subjective value, and suggest that social preferences can best be understood by examining the identity contexts in which they unfold. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.
Relations Between Nonverbal and Verbal Social Cognitive Skills and Complex Social Behavior in Children and Adolescents with Autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Demopoulos, Carly; Hopkins, Joyce; Lewine, Jeffrey D

2016-07-01

Although there is an extensive literature on domains of social skill deficits in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), little research has examined the relation between specific social cognitive skills and complex social behaviors in daily functioning. This was the aim of the present study. Participants were 37 (26 male and 11 female) children and adolescents aged 6-18 years diagnosed with ASD. To determine the amount of variance in parent-rated complex social behavior accounted for by the linear combination of five directly-assessed social cognitive variables (i.e., adult and child facial and vocal affect recognition and social judgment) after controlling for general intellectual ability, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed. The linear combination of variables accounted for 35.4 % of the variance in parent-rated complex social behavior. Vocal affect recognition in adult voices showed the strongest association with complex social behavior in ASD. Results suggest that assessment and training in vocal affective comprehension should be an important component of social skills interventions for individuals with ASD.
75 FR 65363 - Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet)

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-22

... public meeting to promote and publicize the Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (Opp... . Background: The Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet) is a trans-NIH initiative to expand the agency's funding of basic behavioral and social sciences research (b-BSSR). OppNet prioritizes...
Comparability of the Social Behavior Inventory in English and Dutch

NARCIS (Netherlands)

aan het Rot, Marije; Hogenelst, Koen; Moskowitz, D. S.

2013-01-01

The Social Behavior Inventory (SBI) assesses social behaviors along the 2 orthogonal axes defining the interpersonal circumplex; that is, in terms of quarrelsomeness-agreeableness and dominance-submissiveness. To contribute to evidence evaluating the cross-cultural construct validity of the SBI, we
Nutritional status and social behavior in preschool children: the mediating effects of neurocognitive functioning

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jianghong; Raine, Adrian

2017-01-01

Early malnutritional status has been associated with reduced cognitive ability in childhood. However, there are almost no studies on the effect of malnutrition on positive social behavior, and no tests of possible mediating mechanisms. This study tests the hypothesis that poor nutritional status is associated with impaired social functioning in childhood, and that neurocognitive ability mediates this relationship. We assessed 1553 male and female 3-year-olds from a birth cohort on measures of malnutrition, social behavior and verbal and spatial neurocognitive functions. Children with indicators of malnutrition showed impaired social behavior (p malnutrition and degree of social behavior, with increased malnutrition associated with more impaired social behavior. Neurocognitive ability was found to mediate the nutrition–social behavior relationship. The mediation effect of neurocognitive functioning suggests that poor nutrition negatively impacts brain areas that play important roles in developing positive social behavior. Findings suggest that reducing poor nutrition, alternatively promoting good nutrition, may help promote positive social behavior in early childhood during a critical period for social and neurocognitive development, with implications for improving positive health in adulthood. PMID:27133006
Oxytocin and vasopressin neural networks: Implications for social behavioral diversity and translational neuroscience.

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Johnson, Zachary V; Young, Larry J

2017-05-01

Oxytocin- and vasopressin-related systems are present in invertebrate and vertebrate bilaterian animals, including humans, and exhibit conserved neuroanatomical and functional properties. In vertebrates, these systems innervate conserved neural networks that regulate social learning and behavior, including conspecific recognition, social attachment, and parental behavior. Individual and species-level variation in central organization of oxytocin and vasopressin systems has been linked to individual and species variation in social learning and behavior. In humans, genetic polymorphisms in the genes encoding oxytocin and vasopressin peptides and/or their respective target receptors have been associated with individual variation in social recognition, social attachment phenotypes, parental behavior, and psychiatric phenotypes such as autism. Here we describe both conserved and variable features of central oxytocin and vasopressin systems in the context of social behavioral diversity, with a particular focus on neural networks that modulate social learning, behavior, and salience of sociosensory stimuli during species-typical social contexts. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Heightened Activity in Social Reward Networks is Associated with Adolescents’ Risky Sexual Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Eckstrand, Kristen L.; Choukas-Bradley, Sophia; Mohanty, Arpita; Cross, Marissa; Allen, Nicholas B.; Silk, Jennifer S.; Jones, Neil P.; Forbes, Erika E.

2018-01-01

Adolescent sexual risk behavior can lead to serious health consequences, yet few investigations have addressed its neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Social neurocircuitry is postulated to underlie the development of risky sexual behavior, and response to social reward may be especially relevant. Typically developing adolescents (N=47; 18M, 29F; 16.3±1.4 years; 42.5% sexual intercourse experience) completed a social reward fMRI task and reported their sexual risk behaviors (e.g., lifetime sexual partners) on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Neural response and functional connectivity to social reward were compared for adolescents with higher- and lower-risk sexual behavior. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors demonstrated increased activation in the right precuneus and the right temporoparietal junction during receipt of social reward. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors also demonstrated greater functional connectivity between the precuneus and the temporoparietal junction bilaterally, dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, and left anterior insula/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. The greater activation and functional connectivity in self-referential, social reward, and affective processing regions among higher sexual risk adolescents underscores the importance of social influence underlying sexual risk behaviors. Furthermore, results suggest an orientation towards and sensitivity to social rewards among youth engaging in higher-risk sexual behavior, perhaps as a consequence of or vulnerability to such behavior. PMID:28755632
Heightened activity in social reward networks is associated with adolescents’ risky sexual behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristen L. Eckstrand

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Adolescent sexual risk behavior can lead to serious health consequences, yet few investigations have addressed its neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Social neurocircuitry is postulated to underlie the development of risky sexual behavior, and response to social reward may be especially relevant. Typically developing adolescents (N = 47; 18M, 29F; 16.3 ± 1.4 years; 42.5% sexual intercourse experience completed a social reward fMRI task and reported their sexual risk behaviors (e.g., lifetime sexual partners on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS. Neural response and functional connectivity to social reward were compared for adolescents with higher- and lower-risk sexual behavior. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors demonstrated increased activation in the right precuneus and the right temporoparietal junction during receipt of social reward. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors also demonstrated greater functional connectivity between the precuneus and the temporoparietal junction bilaterally, dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, and left anterior insula/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. The greater activation and functional connectivity in self-referential, social reward, and affective processing regions among higher sexual risk adolescents underscores the importance of social influence underlying sexual risk behaviors. Furthermore, results suggest an orientation towards and sensitivity to social rewards among youth engaging in higher-risk sexual behavior, perhaps as a consequence of or vulnerability to such behavior.
Heightened activity in social reward networks is associated with adolescents' risky sexual behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Eckstrand, Kristen L; Choukas-Bradley, Sophia; Mohanty, Arpita; Cross, Marissa; Allen, Nicholas B; Silk, Jennifer S; Jones, Neil P; Forbes, Erika E

2017-10-01

Adolescent sexual risk behavior can lead to serious health consequences, yet few investigations have addressed its neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Social neurocircuitry is postulated to underlie the development of risky sexual behavior, and response to social reward may be especially relevant. Typically developing adolescents (N=47; 18M, 29F; 16.3±1.4years; 42.5% sexual intercourse experience) completed a social reward fMRI task and reported their sexual risk behaviors (e.g., lifetime sexual partners) on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Neural response and functional connectivity to social reward were compared for adolescents with higher- and lower-risk sexual behavior. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors demonstrated increased activation in the right precuneus and the right temporoparietal junction during receipt of social reward. Adolescents with higher-risk sexual behaviors also demonstrated greater functional connectivity between the precuneus and the temporoparietal junction bilaterally, dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, and left anterior insula/ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. The greater activation and functional connectivity in self-referential, social reward, and affective processing regions among higher sexual risk adolescents underscores the importance of social influence underlying sexual risk behaviors. Furthermore, results suggest an orientation towards and sensitivity to social rewards among youth engaging in higher-risk sexual behavior, perhaps as a consequence of or vulnerability to such behavior. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Amphetamine and cocaine suppress social play behavior in rats through distinct mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Achterberg, E J Marijke; Trezza, Viviana; Siviy, Stephen M; Schrama, Laurens; Schoffelmeer, Anton N M; Vanderschuren, Louk J M J

2014-04-01

Social play behavior is a characteristic form of social behavior displayed by juvenile and adolescent mammals. This social play behavior is highly rewarding and of major importance for social and cognitive development. Social play is known to be modulated by neurotransmitter systems involved in reward and motivation. Interestingly, psychostimulant drugs, such as amphetamine and cocaine, profoundly suppress social play, but the neural mechanisms underlying these effects remain to be elucidated. In this study, we investigated the pharmacological underpinnings of amphetamine- and cocaine-induced suppression of social play behavior in rats. The play-suppressant effects of amphetamine were antagonized by the alpha-2 adrenoreceptor antagonist RX821002 but not by the dopamine receptor antagonist alpha-flupenthixol. Remarkably, the effects of cocaine on social play were not antagonized by alpha-2 noradrenergic, dopaminergic, or serotonergic receptor antagonists, administered either alone or in combination. The effects of a subeffective dose of cocaine were enhanced by a combination of subeffective doses of the serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine, the dopamine reuptake inhibitor GBR12909, and the noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor atomoxetine. Amphetamine, like methylphenidate, exerts its play-suppressant effect through alpha-2 noradrenergic receptors. On the other hand, cocaine reduces social play by simultaneous increases in dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin neurotransmission. In conclusion, psychostimulant drugs with different pharmacological profiles suppress social play behavior through distinct mechanisms. These data contribute to our understanding of the neural mechanisms of social behavior during an important developmental period, and of the deleterious effects of psychostimulant exposure thereon.
Female methamphetamine users: social characteristics and sexual risk behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Semple, Shirley J; Grant, Igor; Patterson, Thomas L

2004-01-01

The primary objective of this research was to expand our knowledge regarding the personal and social characteristics of female methamphetamine (meth) users, their motivations for using meth, patterns of meth use, medical and social problems associated with meth use, and the relationship between meth use and sexual risk behaviors. The sample consisted of 98 HIV-negative, heterosexually-identified, meth-using females residing in San Diego, California. Female meth users were characterized by personal and social disadvantage, high rates of psychiatric symptomatology, and high levels of sexual risk behavior, including multiple partners, risky partner types (e.g., anonymous sex partners), and high rates of unprotected vaginal and oral sex. Meth use was also associated with the subjective positive experience of sex. These finding suggest that behavioral interventions should be tailored to the social characteristics of female meth users, and program content should reflect the intertwining of women's sexual experience and meth use.
Relevance of behavioral and social models to the study of consumer energy decision making and behavior

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burns, B.A.

1980-11-01

This report reviews social and behavioral science models and techniques for their possible use in understanding and predicting consumer energy decision making and behaviors. A number of models and techniques have been developed that address different aspects of the decision process, use different theoretical bases and approaches, and have been aimed at different audiences. Three major areas of discussion were selected: (1) models of adaptation to social change, (2) decision making and choice, and (3) diffusion of innovation. Within these three areas, the contributions of psychologists, sociologists, economists, marketing researchers, and others were reviewed. Five primary components of the models were identified and compared. The components are: (1) situational characteristics, (2) product characteristics, (3) individual characteristics, (4) social influences, and (5) the interaction or decision rules. The explicit use of behavioral and social science models in energy decision-making and behavior studies has been limited. Examples are given of a small number of energy studies which applied and tested existing models in studying the adoption of energy conservation behaviors and technologies, and solar technology.
Social networks and social support for healthy eating among Latina breast cancer survivors: implications for social and behavioral interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Crookes, Danielle M; Shelton, Rachel C; Tehranifar, Parisa; Aycinena, Corina; Gaffney, Ann Ogden; Koch, Pam; Contento, Isobel R; Greenlee, Heather

2016-04-01

Little is known about Latina breast cancer survivors' social networks or their perceived social support to achieve and maintain a healthy diet. This paper describes the social networks and perceived support for healthy eating in a sample of breast cancer survivors of predominantly Dominican descent living in New York City. Spanish-speaking Latina breast cancer survivors enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of a culturally tailored dietary intervention. Social networks were assessed using Cohen's Social Network Index and a modified General Social Survey Social Networks Module that included assessments of shared health promoting behaviors. Perceived social support from family and friends for healthy, food-related behaviors was assessed. Participants' networks consisted predominantly of family and friends. Family members were more likely than other individuals to be identified as close network members. Participants were more likely to share food-related activities than exercise activities with close network members. Perceived social support for healthy eating was high, although perceived support from spouses and children was higher than support from friends. Despite high levels of perceived support, family was also identified as a barrier to eating healthy foods by nearly half of women. Although friends are part of Latina breast cancer survivors' social networks, spouses and children may provide greater support for healthy eating than friends. Involving family members in dietary interventions for Latina breast cancer survivors may tap into positive sources of support for women, which could facilitate uptake and maintenance of healthy eating behaviors.
Workplace social capital, mental health and health behaviors among Brazilian female workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Pattussi, Marcos Pascoal; Olinto, Maria Teresa Anselmo; Canuto, Raquel; da Silva Garcez, Anderson; Paniz, Vera Maria Vieira; Kawachi, Ichiro

2016-09-01

Previous studies have investigated the relationship between workplace social capital and mental health, yet few have sought to examine the mediating mechanisms. We sought to explore the role of workplace social capital on health related behaviors and on mental health among female employees in Brazil. A cross-sectional study was undertaken with 553 women aged 28-50 years working in the production line of a poultry processing plant. We assessed workplace social capital, common mental disorders, stress (Perceived Stress Scale) and health related behaviors (physical activity, healthy eating habits and co-occurrence of risk behaviors). We used structural equation modeling to clarify relationships between exposures, outcomes, and mediating variables. Our model demonstrated a direct effect of social capital on the outcomes studied. Higher workplace social capital was associated with lower stress and common mental disorders as well as more favorable health-related behaviors. Our model also showed an indirect effect of social capital on mental health and on behaviors that was mediated by lower levels of perceived stress. Workplace social cohesion may play an important role in the promotion of mental health and healthy behaviors among women employees.
Teacher characteristics, social classroom relationships, and children's social, emotional, and behavioral classroom adjustment in special education.

Science.gov (United States)

Breeman, L D; Wubbels, T; van Lier, P A C; Verhulst, F C; van der Ende, J; Maras, A; Hopman, J A B; Tick, N T

2015-02-01

The goal of this study was to explore relations between teacher characteristics (i.e., competence and wellbeing); social classroom relationships (i.e., teacher-child and peer interactions); and children's social, emotional, and behavioral classroom adjustment. These relations were explored at both the individual and classroom levels among 414 children with emotional and behavioral disorders placed in special education. Two models were specified. In the first model, children's classroom adjustment was regressed on social relationships and teacher characteristics. In the second model, reversed links were examined by regressing teacher characteristics on social relationships and children's adjustment. Results of model 1 showed that, at the individual level, better social and emotional adjustment of children was predicted by higher levels of teacher-child closeness and better behavioral adjustment was predicted by both positive teacher-child and peer interactions. At the classroom level, positive social relationships were predicted by higher levels of teacher competence, which in turn were associated with lower classroom levels of social problems. Higher levels of teacher wellbeing were directly associated with classroom adaptive and maladaptive child outcomes. Results of model 2 showed that, at the individual and classroom levels, only the emotional and behavioral problems of children predicted social classroom relationships. At the classroom level, teacher competence was best predicted by positive teacher-child relationships and teacher wellbeing was best predicted by classroom levels of prosocial behavior. We discuss the importance of positive teacher-child and peer interactions for children placed in special education and suggest ways of improving classroom processes by targeting teacher competence. Copyright © 2014 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Disinhibited social engagement in postinstitutionalized children: differentiating normal from atypical behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawler, Jamie M; Hostinar, Camelia E; Mliner, Shanna B; Gunnar, Megan R

2014-05-01

The most commonly reported socially aberrant behavior in postinstitutionalized (PI) children is disinhibited social engagement (DSE; also known as indiscriminate friendliness). There is no gold standard for measurement of this phenomenon nor agreement on how to differentiate it from normative behavior. We adopted a developmental psychopathology approach (Cicchetti, 1984) to study this phenomenon by comparing it to normative social development and by studying its patterns over time in 50 newly adopted PI children (16-36 months at adoption) compared with 41 children adopted early from foster care overseas and 47 nonadopted (NA) controls. Using coded behavioral observations of the child's interaction with an unfamiliar adult, atypical behaviors were differentiated from normative behaviors. Principal components analysis identified two dimensions of social disinhibition. The nonphysical social dimension (e.g., initiations, proximity) showed wide variation in NA children and is therefore considered a typical form of sociability. Displays of physical contact and intimacy were rare in NA children, suggesting that they represent an atypical pattern of behavior. Both adopted groups demonstrated more physical DSE behavior than NA children. There were no group differences on the nonphysical factor, and it increased over time in all groups. Implications for understanding the etiology of DSE and future directions are discussed.
Will they like me? Neural and behavioral responses to social-evaluative peer feedback in socially and non-socially anxious females.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Molen, Melle J W; Harrewijn, Anita; Westenberg, P Michiel

2018-03-07

The current study examined neural and behavioral responses to social-evaluative feedback processing in social anxiety. Twenty-two non-socially and 17 socially anxious females (mean age = 19.57 years) participated in a Social Judgment Paradigm in which they received peer acceptance/rejection feedback that was either congruent or incongruent with their prior predictions. Results indicated that socially anxious participants believed they would receive less social acceptance feedback than non-socially anxious participants. EEG results demonstrated that unexpected social rejection feedback elicited a significant increase in theta (4-8 Hz) power relative to other feedback conditions. This theta response was only observed in non-socially anxious individuals. Together, results corroborate cognitive-behavioral studies demonstrating a negative expectancy bias in socially anxiety with respect to social evaluation. Furthermore, the present findings highlight a functional role for theta oscillatory dynamics in processing cues that convey social-evaluative threat, and this social threat-monitoring mechanism seems less sensitive in socially anxious females. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Systematic Review of Social Network Analysis in Adolescent Cigarette Smoking Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Dong-Chul; Huang, Yan

2012-01-01

Background: Social networks are important in adolescent smoking behavior. Previous research indicates that peer context is a major causal factor of adolescent smoking behavior. To date, however, little is known about the influence of peer group structure on adolescent smoking behavior. Methods: Studies that examined adolescent social networks with…
Lasting Adaptations in Social Behavior Produced by Social Disruption and Inhibition of Adult Neurogenesis

Science.gov (United States)

Opendak, Maya; Offit, Lily; Monari, Patrick; Schoenfeld, Timothy J.; Sonti, Anup N.; Cameron, Heather A.

2016-01-01

Research on social instability has focused on its detrimental consequences, but most people are resilient and respond by invoking various coping strategies. To investigate cellular processes underlying such strategies, a dominance hierarchy of rats was formed and then destabilized. Regardless of social position, rats from disrupted hierarchies had fewer new neurons in the hippocampus compared with rats from control cages and those from stable hierarchies. Social disruption produced a preference for familiar over novel conspecifics, a change that did not involve global memory impairments or increased anxiety. Using the neuropeptide oxytocin as a tool to increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus of disrupted rats restored preference for novel conspecifics to predisruption levels. Conversely, reducing the number of new neurons by limited inhibition of adult neurogenesis in naive transgenic GFAP–thymidine kinase rats resulted in social behavior similar to disrupted rats. Together, these results provide novel mechanistic evidence that social disruption shapes behavior in a potentially adaptive way, possibly by reducing adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT To investigate cellular processes underlying adaptation to social instability, a dominance hierarchy of rats was formed and then destabilized. Regardless of social position, rats from disrupted hierarchies had fewer new neurons in the hippocampus compared with rats from control cages and those from stable hierarchies. Unexpectedly, these changes were accompanied by changes in social strategies without evidence of impairments in cognition or anxiety regulation. Restoring adult neurogenesis in disrupted rats using oxytocin and conditionally suppressing the production of new neurons in socially naive GFAP–thymidine kinase rats showed that loss of 6-week-old neurons may be responsible for adaptive changes in social behavior. PMID:27358459
Is healthy behavior contagious: associations of social norms with physical activity and healthy eating

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McNaughton Sarah A

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Social norms are theoretically hypothesized to influence health-related behaviors such as physical activity and eating behaviors. However, empirical evidence relating social norms to these behaviors, independently of other more commonly-investigated social constructs such as social support, is scarce and findings equivocal, perhaps due to limitations in the ways in which social norms have been conceptualized and assessed. This study investigated associations between clearly-defined social norms and a range of physical activity and eating behaviors amongst women, adjusting for the effects of social support. Methods Self-report survey data about particular physical activity (leisure-time moderate-vigorous activity; volitional walking; cycling for transport and eating behaviors (fast food, soft drink and fruit and vegetable consumption, and social norms and support for these, were provided by 3,610 women aged 18-46 years living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Victoria, Australia. Results Results of regression analyses showed that social norms for physical activity and eating behaviors predicted these respective behaviors relatively consistently; these associations generally remained significant after adjustment for social support. Conclusions Acknowledging the cross-sectional study design, these data confirm theoretical accounts of the importance of social norms for physical activity and eating behaviors, and suggest that this is independent from social support. Intervention strategies aimed at promoting physical activity and healthy eating could incorporate strategies aimed at modifying social norms relating to these behaviors.
Student nurses' unethical behavior, social media, and year of birth.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Gloria Copeland; Knudson, Troy Keith

2016-12-01

This study is the result of findings from a previous dissertation conducted by this author on Student Nurses' Unethical Behavior, Boundaries, and Social Media. The use of social media can be detrimental to the nurse-patient relationship if used in an unethical manner. A mixed method, using a quantitative approach based on research questions that explored differences in student nurses' unethical behavior by age (millennial vs nonmillennial) and clinical cohort, the relationship of unethical behavior to the utilization of social media, and analysis on year of birth and unethical behavior. A qualitative approach was used based on a guided faculty interview and common themes of student nurses' unethical behavior. Participants and Research Context: In total, 55 Associate Degree nursing students participated in the study; the research was conducted at Central Texas College. There were eight faculty-guided interviews. Ethical considerations: The main research instrument was an anonymous survey. All participants were assured of their right to an informed consent. All participants were informed of the right to withdraw from the study at any time. Findings indicate a significant correlation between student nurses' unethical behavior and use of social media (p = 0.036) and a significant difference between student unethical conduct by generation (millennials vs nonmillennials (p = 0.033)) and by clinical cohort (p = 0.045). Further findings from the follow-up study on year of birth and student unethical behavior reveal a correlation coefficient of 0.384 with a significance level of 0.003. Surprisingly, the study found that second-semester students had less unethical behavior than first-, third-, and fourth-semester students. The follow-up study found that this is because second-semester students were the oldest cohort. Implications for positive social change for nursing students include improved ethics education that may motivate ethical conduct throughout students' careers
Social capital and health-protective behavior intentions in an influenza pandemic.

Science.gov (United States)

Chuang, Ying-Chih; Huang, Ya-Li; Tseng, Kuo-Chien; Yen, Chia-Hsin; Yang, Lin-hui

2015-01-01

Health-protective behaviors, such as receiving a vaccine, wearing a face mask, and washing hands frequently, can reduce the risk of contracting influenza. However, little is known about how social capital may influence health-protective behavior in the general population. This study examined whether each of the social capital dimensions (bonding, bridging, and linking) contributed to the intention to adopt any of the health-protective behaviors in an influenza pandemic. The data of this study were from the 2014 Taiwan Social Change Survey. A stratified, three-stage probability proportional-to-size sampling from across the nation, was conducted to select adults aged 20 years and older (N = 1,745). Bonding social capital was measured by the frequency of neighborly contact and support. Bridging social capital was measured based on association membership. Linking social capital was measured according to general government trust and trust in the government's capacity to counter an influenza pandemic. Binary logistic regressions were used to assess the multivariate associations between social capital and behavioral intention. The study results indicate that social capital may influence the response to influenza pandemic. Specifically, the intention to receive a vaccine and to wash hands more frequently were associated with the linking dimension and the bonding dimension of social capital, while the intention to wear a face mask was associated with all forms of social capital. The findings of this study suggest that government credibility and interpersonal networks may play a crucial role in health-protective behavior. This study provides new insights into how to improve the effectiveness of influenza prevention campaigns.
Emotion Socialization by Mothers and Fathers: Coherence among Behaviors and Associations with Parent Attitudes and Children's Social Competence

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Jason K.; Fenning, Rachel M.; Crnic, Keith A.

2011-01-01

This study examined inter-relations among different types of parental emotion socialization behaviors in 88 mothers and 76 fathers (co-residing with participating mothers) of eight-year-old children. Parents completed questionnaires assessing emotion socialization behaviors, emotion-related attitudes, and their children's social functioning. An…
The roles of oxytocin and CD38 in social or parental behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga eLopatina

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The nine amino acid peptide oxytocin (OXT has been directly associated with different types of behavioral reactions. The formation and maintenance of social relationships in youth and middle age are important components of human mental health. A deficit in healthy behavioral formation leads to social isolation and limitation of well-being. Mice are social animals and are therefore useful for investigating the neurobiological mechanisms of cognitive process control, including the development of social relationships and social skills. Studies in mice may broaden our understanding of the human condition. The multifunctional protein CD38/ADP-ribosyl cyclase is highly expressed in the brain, plays an important role in central OXT release and regulates social memory. In this review article, we discuss the mechanisms of social behavior affected by the dysregulation of brain OXT function as a consequence of a lack of CD38. OXT bound to OXT receptors initiates autoregulatory positive feedback of OXT release in the hypothalamus and posterior pituitary. OXT bio-behavioral positive feedback is usually implicated in female reproductive systems, but can also be observed in social behavior. Exogenous stimuli (OXT treatment in vitro, OXT intravenous or intraventricular administration, and nasal OXT delivery initiate activation of OXT neurons via PKC-CD38/ADP-ribosyl cyclase cascades and result in the modulation of social behavior in humans and mice. Based on these findings, we reviewed the functions of OXT and its properties with respect to the development of therapies for human social behavior impairments in psychological diseases. In addition, preliminary studies of continuous nasal OXT administration on subjects with autism spectrum disorders are described.
What the laboratory rat has taught us about social play behavior: role in behavioral development and neural mechanisms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vanderschuren, L.J.M.J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/126514917; Trezza, V.

2014-01-01

Social play behavior is the most vigorous and characteristic form of social interaction displayed by developing mammals. The laboratory rat is an ideal species to study this behavior, since it shows ample social play that can be easily recognized and quantified. In this chapter, we will first
Excluded and behaving unethically: social exclusion, physiological responses, and unethical behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Kouchaki, Maryam; Wareham, Justin

2015-03-01

Across 2 studies, we investigated the ethical consequences of physiological responses to social exclusion. In Study 1, participants who were socially excluded were more likely to engage in unethical behavior to make money and the level of physiological arousal experienced during exclusion--measured using galvanic skin response--mediated the effects of exclusion on unethical behavior. Likewise, in Study 2, results from a sample of supervisor-subordinate dyads revealed a positive relationship between experience of workplace ostracism and unethical behaviors as rated by the immediate supervisors. This relationship was mediated by employees' reports of experienced physiological arousal. Together, the results of these studies demonstrate that physiological arousal accompanies social exclusion and provides an explanatory mechanism for the increased unethical behavior in both samples. Theoretical implications of these findings for research on ethical behavior and social exclusion in the workplace are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.
The Contributions of Applied Behavior Analysis and Behavior Theory to Innovative Research and Practice Cultures in Social Work.

Science.gov (United States)

Briggs, Harold Eugene; Sharkey, Caroline; Briggs, Adam Christopher

2016-01-01

In this article the authors tie the emergence of an empirical practice research culture, which enabled the rise in evidence-based practice in social work to the introduction of applied behavior analysis and behavioral theory to social work practice and research. The authors chronicle the: (1) scientific foundations of social work, (2) influence and push by corporatized university cultures for higher scholarship productivity among faculty, (3) significance of theory in general, (4) importance of behavioral theory in particular as a major trigger of the growth in research on effective social work practice approaches, and (5) commonalities between applied behavior analysis and evidence-based practice. The authors conclude with implications for addressing the dual challenges of building an enhanced research culture in schools of social work and the scholarship of transferring practice research to adoption in real world practice settings.
Workplace Social Support and Behavioral Health Prior to Long-Duration Spaceflight.

Science.gov (United States)

Deming, Charlene A; Vasterling, Jennifer J

2017-06-01

Preparation and training for long-duration spaceflight bring with them psychosocial stressors potentially affecting the well-being and performance of astronauts, before and during spaceflight. Social support from within the workplace may mitigate behavioral health concerns arising during the preflight period and enhance resiliency before and during extended missions. The purpose of this review was to evaluate evidence addressing the viability of workplace social support as a pre-mission countermeasure, specifically addressing: 1) the observed relationships between workplace social support and behavioral health; 2) perceived need, acceptability, and format preference for workplace social support among high-achievers; 3) potential barriers to delivery/receipt of workplace social support; 4) workplace social support interventions; and 5) delivery timeframe and anticipated duration of workplace social support countermeasure benefits. We conducted an evidence review examining workplace social support in professional contexts sharing one or more characteristics with astronauts and spaceflight. Terms included populations of interest, social support constructs, and behavioral health outcomes. Abstracts of matches were subsequently reviewed for relevance and quality. Research findings demonstrate clear associations between workplace social support and behavioral health, especially following exposure to stress. Further, studies indicate strong need for support and acceptability of support countermeasures, despite barriers. Our review revealed two general formats for providing support (i.e., direct provision of support and training to optimize skills in provision and receipt of support) with potential differentiation of expected duration of benefits, according to format. Workplace social support countermeasures hold promise for effective application during pre-mission phases of long-duration spaceflight. Specific recommendations are provided.Deming CA, Vasterling JJ
Mental Illness, Behavior Problems, and Social Behavior in Adults with Down Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Straccia, Claudio; Baggio, Stéphanie; Barisnikov, Koviljka

2014-01-01

Little is known about the behavioral characteristics of adults with Down syndrome (DS) without dementia. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the psychopathology and social behavior among adults with DS compared to adults with nonspecific intellectual disability (NSID). Thirty-four adults with DS were individually matched with 34…

THE MAIN SOCIAL RISK FACTORS IN THE FEMININ DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirela Cristiana NILĂ STRATONE

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The feminine criminality is a social phenomenon of defining importance in trying to draw the portrait of contemporary human society. What is the basic mechanism of this dimension of human behavior remains a continuing challenge for criminology researchers and beyond. The feminine offenses segment dresses a form of atypical aggressivity. This is the main reason who determine the identification, analization and explanation of the factors that influence and shapes the behavior of the woman, bringing it to the form of criminal behavior. The contradiction between femininity and criminality is outlined as an intrigue of gender stereotypes, which the researcher can not bypass. That is why patterns, items, everything on the background of social change are considered. The social change comes, in turn, with challenges both from the domestic area and from the outside of the family. In this paper we will review the main social nature factors that trigger the deviant behavior leading this to delinquency and even determining its identification with forms of delinquency. Women's evolution in time, in terms of age and social modernization, results in changes in the feminine attitude, the typical female actions, woman's personality as a mother, married couple, daughter, girlfriend, etc. The purpose of this study is to present risk factors with criminogen potential on women's behavior in society. Behavioral deviance, as a result of the multitude of bio-psychological, econ- omic, socio-cultural, political, natural factors, turns into violence, and violence tends to become an increasingly strong component of female temper. Last but not least, it is observed that the femininity itself, under the pressure of social factors, takes on new forms, dominated by aggressiveness.
[Social actors and phenomenologic modelling].

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Laflamme, Simon

2012-05-01

The phenomenological approach has a quasi-monopoly in the individual and subjectivity analyses in social sciences. However, the conceptual apparatus associated with this approach is very restrictive. The human being has to be understood as rational, conscious, intentional, interested, and autonomous. Because of this, a large dimension of human activity cannot be taken into consideration: all that does not fit into the analytical categories (nonrational, nonconscious, etc.). Moreover, this approach cannot really move toward a relational analysis unless it is between individuals predefined by its conceptual apparatus. This lack of complexity makes difficult the establishment of links between phenomenology and systemic analysis in which relation (and its derivatives such as recursiveness, dialectic, correlation) plays an essential role. This article intends to propose a way for systemic analysis to apprehend the individual with respect to his complexity.
Reducing Children’s Behavior Problems through Social Capital: A Causal Assessment

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López Turley, Ruth N.; Gamoran, Adam; McCarty, Alyn Turner; Fish, Rachel

2016-01-01

Behavior problems among young children have serious detrimental effects on short and long-term educational outcomes. An especially promising prevention strategy may be one that focuses on strengthening the relationships among families in schools, or social capital. However, empirical research on social capital has been constrained by conceptual and causal ambiguity. This study attempts to construct a more focused conceptualization of social capital and aims to determine the causal effects of social capital on children’s behavior. Using data from a cluster randomized trial of 52 elementary schools, we apply several multilevel models to assess the causal relationship, including intent to treat and treatment on the treated analyses. Taken together, these analyses provide stronger evidence than previous studies that social capital improves children’s behavioral outcomes and that these improvements are not simply a result of selection into social relations but result from the social relations themselves. PMID:27886729
Utilizing Social Stories to Increase Prosocial Behavior and Reduce Problem Behavior in Young Children with Autism

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Lisa A. Wright

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the effects of a Social Story intervention on the behavior rates of 4 young children with autism using a multiple-baseline across participants design. The results of this paper indicate that the Social Story was modestly effective in increasing prosocial behavior rates in 3 of the 4 participants, though none of the participants reached the prosocial behavior rates of age and gender-matched peers. The problem behaviors of the participants modestly decreased with the intervention. Maintenance of skills over a 1-month period was demonstrated for all of the participants. The variable and inconsistent results of the research add to the current literature base in support of the use of Social Stories for some children with autism.
Conjugated equine estrogen enhances rats' cognitive, anxiety, and social behavior

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Walf, Alicia A.; Frye, Cheryl A.

2008-01-01

The ovarian hormone, 17β-estradiol (E2), has numerous targets in the body and brain, and can influence cognitive, affective, and social behavior. However, functional effects of commonly prescribed E2-based hormone therapies are less known. The effects of conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) on middle-aged female rats for cognitive (object recognition), anxiety (open field, plus maze), and social (social interaction, lordosis) behavior were compared-with vehicle. Our hypothesis that CEE would enha...
Behavior problems and social competence in Brazilian children with specific language impairment

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Marina Leite Puglisi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract This study aimed to investigate the behavior and social profile of Brazilian children with specific language impairment (SLI and explore whether the severity of language deficits was associated with behavioral problems and low social competence. Twenty-four children with SLI aged from 6 to 11 years who showed substantial expressive language problems and were receiving speech-language therapy were assessed through the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL. Children with SLI showed high rates of behavioral problems and low levels of social competence. With the exception of two subscales (“somatic” and “rule breaker”, the percentage of children with SLI at risk of behavioral problems was significantly higher than the same proportion in the general population; and almost all children with SLI (95.2 % demonstrated problems with social competence. The severity of language deficits was associated with the risk of behavioral problems according to only one criterion. No associations were found between the severity of language problems and social competence. The study provides cross-cultural evidence to support the existence of behavior problems and reduced social competence in children with SLI. Our findings point to the need of using a combination of measures to classify the severity of language problems rather than a single dimension.
Do Women Socialize Better? Evidence from a Study on Sociality Effects on Gender Differences in Cooperative Behavior

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Peshkovskaya, Anastasia; Myagkov, Mikhail; Babkina, Tatiana; Lukinova, Evgeniya

2017-01-01

Human behavior is greatly influenced by the social context. The currrent study on men’ and women’s cooperative behavior investigated the influence of long-term and short-term effects of socializing in group. The repeated Prisoner’s dilemma carried out in groups of 6 participants was used as the main experimental situation. The differences were found in changes in the level of cooperation, taking in to account the effects of mixing social and gender variables. Socialization made ...
Response to hypothetical social scenarios in individuals with traumatic brain injury who present inappropriate social behavior: a preliminary report.

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Gagnon, Jean; Henry, Anne; Decoste, François-Pierre; Ouellette, Michel; McDuff, Pierre; Daelman, Sacha

2013-03-01

Very little research thus far has examined the decision making that underlies inappropriate social behavior (ISB) post-TBI (traumatic brain injury). To verify the usefulness of a new instrument, the Social Responding Task, for investigating whether, in social decision making, individuals with TBI, who present inappropriate social behavior (ISB), have difficulty anticipating their own feelings of embarrassment and others' angry reactions following an ISB. Seven subjects with TBI presenting with inappropriate social behavior (TBI-ISB), 10 presenting with appropriate social behavior (TBI-ASB), and 15 healthy controls were given 12 hypothetical scenarios three times, each time ending with a different behavioral response. Subjects were asked to gauge the likelihood of their displaying the behavior in that situation (part A) and of it being followed by an angry reaction from the other or by feelings of embarrassment in themselves (part B). TBI-ISB subjects scored higher than TBI-ASB and healthy controls on a scale of likelihood of displaying an ISB. RESULTS regarding expectations of angry reactions from others and feelings of embarrassment after an ISB were similar among groups. Negative correlations between endorsement of an inappropriate behavior and anticipation of negative emotional consequences were significant for both TBI-ASB and control subjects, but not for TBI-ISB subjects. RESULTS suggest that the TBI-ISB participants were likely to endorse an ISB despite being able to anticipate a negative emotional response in themselves or others, suggesting that there were other explanations for their poor behavior. A self-reported likely response to hypothetical social scenarios can be a useful approach for studying the neurocognitive processes behind the poor choices of individuals with TBI-ISB, but the task needs further validation studies. A comprehensive discussion follows on the underlying mechanisms affecting social behaviors after a TBI.
Response to Hypothetical Social Scenarios in Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury Who Present Inappropriate Social Behavior: A Preliminary Report

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Michel Ouellette

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Very little research thus far has examined the decision making that underlies inappropriate social behavior (ISB post-TBI (traumatic brain injury. Objectives: To verify the usefulness of a new instrument, the Social Responding Task, for investigating whether, in social decision making, individuals with TBI, who present inappropriate social behavior (ISB, have difficulty anticipating their own feelings of embarrassment and others’ angry reactions following an ISB. Methods: Seven subjects with TBI presenting with inappropriate social behavior (TBI-ISB, 10 presenting with appropriate social behavior (TBI-ASB, and 15 healthy controls were given 12 hypothetical scenarios three times, each time ending with a different behavioral response. Subjects were asked to gauge the likelihood of their displaying the behavior in that situation (part A and of it being followed by an angry reaction from the other or by feelings of embarrassment in themselves (part B. Results: TBI-ISB subjects scored higher than TBI-ASB and healthy controls on a scale of likelihood of displaying an ISB. Results regarding expectations of angry reactions from others and feelings of embarrassment after an ISB were similar among groups. Negative correlations between endorsement of an inappropriate behavior and anticipation of negative emotional consequences were significant for both TBI-ASB and control subjects, but not for TBI-ISB subjects. Conclusions: Results suggest that the TBI-ISB participants were likely to endorse an ISB despite being able to anticipate a negative emotional response in themselves or others, suggesting that there were other explanations for their poor behavior. A self-reported likely response to hypothetical social scenarios can be a useful approach for studying the neurocognitive processes behind the poor choices of individuals with TBI-ISB, but the task needs further validation studies. A comprehensive discussion follows on the underlying
Social Robots as Embedded Reinforcers of Social Behavior in Children with Autism

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Kim, Elizabeth S.; Berkovits, Lauren D.; Bernier, Emily P.; Leyzberg, Dan; Shic, Frederick; Paul, Rhea; Scassellati, Brian

2013-01-01

In this study we examined the social behaviors of 4- to 12-year-old children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; N = 24) during three tradic interactions with an adult confederate and an interaction partner, where the interaction partner varied randomly among (1) another adult human, (2) a touchscreen computer game, and (3) a social dinosaur…
Social Validity of a Positive Behavior Interventions and Support Model

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Miramontes, Nancy Y.; Marchant, Michelle; Heath, Melissa Allen; Fischer, Lane

2011-01-01

As more schools turn to positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS) to address students' academic and behavioral problems, there is an increased need to adequately evaluate these programs for social relevance. The present study used social validation measures to evaluate a statewide PBIS initiative. Active consumers of the program were…
Social and behavioral skills and the gender gap in early educational achievement.

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Diprete, Thomas A; Jennings, Jennifer L

2012-01-01

Though many studies have suggested that social and behavioral skills play a central role in gender stratification processes, we know little about the extent to which these skills affect gender gaps in academic achievement. Analyzing data from the Early Child Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort, we demonstrate that social and behavioral skills have substantively important effects on academic outcomes from kindergarten through fifth grade. Gender differences in the acquisition of these skills, moreover, explain a considerable fraction of the gender gap in academic outcomes during early elementary school. Boys get roughly the same academic return to social and behavioral skills as their female peers, but girls begin school with more advanced social and behavioral skills and their skill advantage grows over time. While part of the effect may reflect an evaluation process that rewards students who better conform to school norms, our results imply that the acquisition of social and behavioral skills enhances learning as well. Our results call for a reconsideration of the family and school-level processes that produce gender gaps in social and behavioral skills and the advantages they confer for academic and later success. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Mining social media: tracking content and predicting behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tsagkias, M.

2012-01-01

The advent of social media has established a symbiotic relationship between social media and online news. This relationship can be leveraged for tracking news content, and predicting behavior with tangible real-world applications, e.g., online reputation management, ad pricing, news ranking, and
Parents' Perceptions of Their Children's Social Behavior: The Social Validity of Social Stories[TM] and Comic Strip Conversations

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Hutchins, Tiffany L.; Prelock, Patricia A.

2013-01-01

This article describes a family-centered collaborative approach to the development and socially valid assessment of Social Stories[TM] and comic strip conversations (CSCs) for supporting the social behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Seventeen children with ASD (ages 4-12 years) participated in either an immediate or a…
What does Williams Syndrome Reveal about the Determinants of Social Behavior?

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Anna Maaria Järvinen

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Growing evidence on autonomic nervous system (ANS function in individuals with Williams syndrome (WS has begun to highlight aberrancies that may have important implications for the social profile characterized by enhanced social motivation and approach. In parallel, neurobiological investigations have identified alterations in the structure, function, and connectivity of the amygdala, as well as prosocial neuropeptide dysregulation, as some of the key neurogenetic features of WS. A recent social approach/withdrawal hypothesis (Kemp and Guastella, 2011 suggests that autonomic cardiac control may play a key role in regulating the relationship between oxytocin and social behavior. This article discusses evidence from these critical, new strands of research into social behavior in WS, to consider the extent to which data on WS may provide novel insight into the determinants of social behavior. Future research directions are suggested.
Transgenerational Social Stress Alters Immune–Behavior Associations and the Response to Vaccination

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Alexandria Hicks-Nelson

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Similar to the multi-hit theory of schizophrenia, social behavior pathologies are mediated by multiple factors across generations, likely acting additively, synergistically, or antagonistically. Exposure to social adversity, especially during early life, has been proposed to induce depression symptoms through immune mediated mechanisms. Basal immune factors are altered in a variety of neurobehavioral models. In the current study, we assessed two aspects of a transgenerational chronic social stress (CSS rat model and its effects on the immune system. First, we asked whether exposure of F0 dams and their F1 litters to CSS changes basal levels of IL-6, TNF, IFN-γ, and social behavior in CSS F1 female juvenile rats. Second, we asked whether the F2 generation could generate normal immunological responses following vaccination with Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG. We report several changes in the associations between social behaviors and cytokines in the F1 juvenile offspring of the CSS model. It is suggested that changes in the immune–behavior relationships in F1 juveniles indicate the early stages of immune mediated disruption of social behavior that becomes more apparent in F1 dams and the F2 generation. We also report preliminary evidence of elevated IL-6 and impaired interferon-gamma responses in BCG-vaccinated F2 females. In conclusion, transgenerational social stress alters both immune–behavior associations and responses to vaccination. It is hypothesized that the effects of social stress may accumulate over generations through changes in the immune system, establishing the immune system as an effective preventative or treatment target for social behavior pathologies.
Blurred Lines: Ethical Implications of Social Media for Behavior Analysts.

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O'Leary, Patrick N; Miller, Megan M; Olive, Melissa L; Kelly, Amanda N

2017-03-01

Social networking has a long list of advantages: it enables access to a large group of people that would otherwise not be geographically convenient or possible to connect with; it reaches several different generations, particularly younger ones, which are not typically involved in discussion of current events; and these sites allow a cost effective, immediate, and interactive way to engage with others. With the vast number of individuals who use social media sites as a way to connect with others, it may not be possible to completely abstain from discussions and interactions on social media that pertain to our professional practice. This is all the more reason that behavior analysts attend to the contingencies specific to these tools. This paper discusses potential ethical situations that may arise and offers a review of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) guidelines pertaining to social networking, as well as provides suggestions for avoiding or resolving potential violations relating to online social behavior.
Programming social behavior by the maternal fragile X protein.

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Zupan, B; Sharma, A; Frazier, A; Klein, S; Toth, M

2016-07-01

The developing fetus and neonate are highly sensitive to maternal environment. Besides the well-documented effects of maternal stress, nutrition and infections, maternal mutations, by altering the fetal, perinatal and/or early postnatal environment, can impact the behavior of genetically normal offspring. Mutation/premutation in the X-linked FMR1 (encoding the translational regulator FMRP) in females, although primarily responsible for causing fragile X syndrome (FXS) in their children, may also elicit such maternal effects. We showed that a deficit in maternal FMRP in mice results in hyperactivity in the genetically normal offspring. To test if maternal FMRP has a broader intergenerational effect, we measured social behavior, a core dimension of neurodevelopmental disorders, in offspring of FMRP-deficient dams. We found that male offspring of Fmr1(+/-) mothers, independent of their own Fmr1 genotype, exhibit increased approach and reduced avoidance toward conspecific strangers, reminiscent of 'indiscriminate friendliness' or the lack of stranger anxiety, diagnosed in neglected children and in patients with Asperger's and Williams syndrome. Furthermore, social interaction failed to activate mesolimbic/amygdala regions, encoding social aversion, in these mice, providing a neurobiological basis for the behavioral abnormality. This work identifies a novel role for FMRP that extends its function beyond the well-established genetic function into intergenerational non-genetic inheritance/programming of social behavior and the corresponding neuronal circuit. As FXS premutation and some psychiatric conditions that can be associated with reduced FMRP expression are more prevalent in mothers than full FMR1 mutation, our findings potentially broaden the significance of FMRP-dependent programming of social behavior beyond the FXS population. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.
An Experiential-Behavioral Approach to the Treatment of Social Incompetence

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White, W. C., Jr.; Andrews, J. V.

1977-01-01

This article documents an attempt to treat severe social incompetence of selected male college students through the use of behavioral rehearsal and social learning approaches, designed to curtail social anxiety. (MB)
Evaluating "anxiety" and social behavior in jundiá (Rhamdia quelen).

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Abreu, Murilo S; Giacomini, Ana C V V; Koakoski, Gessi; Piato, Angelo L; Barcellos, Leonardo J G

2016-06-01

Jundiá (Rhamdia quelen) is a suitable species for aquaculture in regions of temperate or subtropical climate. This species has received great attention regarding several aspects of physiology as well as an organism to study the impact of environmental contaminations. However, experiments using validated and objective tests to evaluate the jundiá behavior are scarce. The effects of acute stress have been studied in other fish species, such as zebrafish (Danio rerio), however, the effects in jundiá are lacking. Thus, we evaluated the effects of acute stress (net chasing) on anxiety-like and social behavior in jundiá. For these purpose, all behavioral analyses were carried out using automated tracking software. We showed that the acute stress protocol increased cortisol levels and induced anxiogenic-like behavior in the novel tank test, and decreased social behavior in jundiá. The antidepressant fluoxetine was able to prevent the effects of acute stress on social behavior. Here we show a behavioral evaluation of Rhamdia quelen using consolidated tests and computerized analysis, which allows more measurable, reliable and comparable results. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Narcissism and Social Networking Behavior: A Meta-Analysis.

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Gnambs, Timo; Appel, Markus

2018-04-01

The increasing popularity of social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter has given rise to speculations that the intensity of using these platforms is associated with narcissistic tendencies. However, recent research on this issue has been all but conclusive. We present a three-level, random effects meta-analysis including 289 effect sizes from 57 studies (total N = 25,631) on the association between trait narcissism and social networking behavior. The meta-analysis identified a small to moderate effect of ρ = .17 (τ = .11), 95% CI [.13, .21], for grandiose narcissism that replicated across different social networking platforms, respondent characteristics, and time. Moderator analyses revealed pronounced cultural differences, with stronger associations in power-distant cultures. Moreover, social networking behaviors geared toward self-presentation and the number of SNS friends exhibited stronger effects than usage durations. Overall, the study not only supported but also refined the notion of a relationship between engaging in social networking sites and narcissistic personality traits. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Dynamics of Social Behavior in Fruit Fly Larvae

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Durisko, Zachary; Kemp, Rebecca; Mubasher, Rameeshay; Dukas, Reuven

2014-01-01

We quantified the extent and dynamics of social interactions among fruit fly larvae over time. Both a wild-type laboratory population and a recently-caught strain of larvae spontaneously formed social foraging groups. Levels of aggregation initially increased during larval development and then declined with the wandering stage before pupation. We show that larvae aggregated more on hard than soft food, and more at sites where we had previously broken the surface of the food. Groups of larvae initiated burrowing sooner than solitary individuals, indicating that one potential benefit of larval aggregations is an improved ability to dig and burrow into the food substrate. We also show that two closely related species, D. melanogaster and D. simulans, differ in their tendency to aggregate, which may reflect different evolutionary histories. Our protocol for quantifying social behavior in larvae uncovered robust social aggregations in this simple model, which is highly amenable to neurogenetic analyses, and can serve for future research into the mechanisms and evolution of social behavior. PMID:24740198
The Effect of Health Beliefs, Media Perceptions, and Communicative Behaviors on Health Behavioral Intention: An Integrated Health Campaign Model on Social Media.

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Yoo, Sun-Wook; Kim, Jarim; Lee, Yeunjae

2018-01-01

Social media have recently gained attention as a potential health campaign tool. This study examines this line of expectation concerning the role social media may play in health campaigns by testing an integrated health campaign model that combines insights from research on social media-specific perceptions and communicative behaviors in order to predict health behaviors. Specifically, this study aims to (a) develop a more holistic social media campaign model for predicting health behaviors in the social media context, (b) investigate how social media channel-related perceptions affect preventive health behaviors, and (c) investigate how communicative behaviors mediate perceptions and behavioral intention. The study conducted an online survey of 498 females who followed the Purple Ribbon Twitter campaign (@pprb), a cervical cancer prevention campaign. The results indicated that information acquisition mediated perceived risk's effect on intention. Information acquisition also mediated the relationships between intention and information selection and information transmission. On the other hand, social media-related perceptions indirectly impacted behavioral intention through communicative behaviors. The findings' theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Behavior analysis and social constructionism: some points of contact and departure.

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Roche, Bryan; Barnes-Holmes, Dermot

2003-01-01

Social constructionists occasionally single out behavior analysis as the field of psychology that most closely resembles the natural sciences in its commitment to empiricism, and accuses it of suffering from many of the limitations to science identified by the postmodernist movement (e.g., K. J. Gergen, 1985a; Soyland, 1994). Indeed, behavior analysis is a natural science in many respects. However, it also shares with social constructionism important epistemological features such as a rejection of mentalism, a functional-analytic approach to language, the use of interpretive methodologies, and a reflexive stance on analysis. The current paper outlines briefly the key tenets of the behavior-analytic and social constructionist perspectives before examining a number of commonalties between these approaches. The paper aims to show that far from being a nemesis to social constructionism, behavior analysis may in fact be its close ally.
Antagonistic control of social versus repetitive self-grooming behaviors by separable amygdala neuronal subsets.

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Hong, Weizhe; Kim, Dong-Wook; Anderson, David J

2014-09-11

Animals display a range of innate social behaviors that play essential roles in survival and reproduction. While the medial amygdala (MeA) has been implicated in prototypic social behaviors such as aggression, the circuit-level mechanisms controlling such behaviors are not well understood. Using cell-type-specific functional manipulations, we find that distinct neuronal populations in the MeA control different social and asocial behaviors. A GABAergic subpopulation promotes aggression and two other social behaviors, while neighboring glutamatergic neurons promote repetitive self-grooming, an asocial behavior. Moreover, this glutamatergic subpopulation inhibits social interactions independently of its effect to promote self-grooming, while the GABAergic subpopulation inhibits self-grooming, even in a nonsocial context. These data suggest that social versus repetitive asocial behaviors are controlled in an antagonistic manner by inhibitory versus excitatory amygdala subpopulations, respectively. These findings provide a framework for understanding circuit-level mechanisms underlying opponency between innate behaviors, with implications for their perturbation in psychiatric disorders. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Catching fire? Social interactions, beliefs, and wildfire risk mitigation behaviors

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Katherine Dickinson; Hannah Brenkert-Smith; Patricia Champ; Nicholas Flores

2015-01-01

Social interactions are widely recognized as a potential influence on risk-related behaviors. We present a mediation model in which social interactions (classified as formal/informal and generic-fire-specific) are associated with beliefs about wildfire risk and mitigation options, which in turn shape wildfire mitigation behaviors. We test this model using survey data...
Information Behavior on Social Live Streaming Services

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Scheibe, Katrin

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the last few years, a new type of synchronous social networking services (SNSs has emerged—social live streaming services (SLSSs. Studying SLSSs is a new and exciting research field in information science. What information behaviors do users of live streaming platforms exhibit? In our empirical study we analyzed information production behavior (i.e., broadcasting as well as information reception behavior (watching streams and commenting on them. We conducted two quantitative investigations, namely an online survey with YouNow users (N = 123 and observations of live streams on YouNow (N = 434. YouNow is a service with video streams mostly made by adolescents for adolescents. YouNow users like to watch streams, to chat while watching, and to reward performers by using emoticons. While broadcasting, there is no anonymity (as in nearly all other WWW services. Synchronous SNSs remind us of the film The Truman Show, as anyone has the chance to consciously broadcast his or her own life real-time.
Social Media Research, Human Behavior, and Sustainable Society

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Quan Li

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A bibliometric analysis was conducted to review social media research from different perspectives during the period of 2008–2014 based on the Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index database. Using a collection of 10,042 articles related to social media, the bibliometric analysis revealed some interesting patterns and trend of the scientific outputs, major journals, subject categories, spatial distribution, international collaboration, and temporal evolution in keywords usage in social media studies. The research on social media has been characterized by rapid growth and dynamic collaboration, with a rising number of publications and citation. Communication, Sociology, Public, Environment & Occupational Health, Business, and Multidisciplinary Psychology were the five most common categories. Computers in Human Behavior was the journal with the most social media publications, and Computers & Education ranked first according to the average citations. The two most productive countries were the U.S. and UK, delivering about half of the publications. The proportion of China’s internationally collaborative publications was the highest. The University of Wisconsin, the University of Michigan, and Harvard University were three most productive institutions. Several keywords, such as “Facebook”, “Twitter”, “communication”, “Social Networking Sites”, “China”, “climate change”, “big data” and “social support” increasingly gained the popularity during the study period, indicating the research trends on human behavior and sustainability.
Source and Size of Social Support Network on Sedentary Behavior Among Older Adults.

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Loprinzi, Paul D; Crush, Elizabeth A

2018-01-01

To examine the association of source of social support and size of social support network on sedentary behavior among older adults. Cross-sectional. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003 to 2006. 2519 older adults (60+ years). Sedentary behavior was assessed via accelerometry over a 7-day period. Social support was assessed via self-report. Sources evaluated include spouse, son, daughter, sibling, neighbor, church member, and friend. Regarding size of social network, participants were asked, "In general, how many close friends do you have?" Multivariable linear regression. After adjustment, there was no evidence of an association between the size of social support network and sedentary behavior. With regard to specific sources of social support, spousal social support was associated with less sedentary behavior (β = -11.6; 95% confidence interval: -20.7 to -2.5), with evidence to suggest that this was only true for men. Further, an inverse association was observed between household size and sedentary behavior, with those having a greater number of individuals in the house having lower levels of sedentary behavior. These associations occurred independent of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, age, gender, race-ethnicity, measured body mass index, total cholesterol, self-reported smoking status, and physician diagnosis of congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, stroke, cancer, hypertension, or diabetes. Spouse-specific emotion-related social support (particularly for men) and household size were associated with less sedentary behavior.
Social cohesion and the smoking behaviors of adults living with children.

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Alcalá, Héctor E; Sharif, Mienah Z; Albert, Stephanie L

2016-02-01

The smoking behavior of adults can negatively impact children through exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and by modeling this unhealthy behavior. Little research has examined the role of the social environment in smoking behaviors of adults living with children. The present study specifically analyzed the relationship between social cohesion and smoking behaviors of adults living with children. Data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey, a random-digit dial cross-sectional survey of California Adults, were used. Adults living with children reported their levels of social cohesion and smoking behaviors (N=13,978). Logistic regression models were used to predict odds of being a current smoker or living in a household in which smoking was allowed, from social cohesion. Overall, 13% of the sample was current smokers and 3.74% lived in households in which smoking was allowed. Logistic regression models showed that each one-unit increase in social cohesion is associated with reduced odds of being a current smoker (AOR=0.92; 95% CI=0.85-0.99) and reduced odds of living in a household in which smoking is allowed (AOR=0.84; 95% CI=0.75-0.93), after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Among adults living with children, higher social cohesion is associated with a lower likelihood of both being and smoker and living in a home where smoking is allowed. Thus, future research is needed to better understand mechanisms that explain the relationship between social cohesion and smoking-related behavior in order to prevent smoking-related health consequences and smoking initiation among children and adults. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Emotional valence and context of social influences on drug abuse-related behavior in animal models of social stress and prosocial interaction.

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Neisewander, J L; Peartree, N A; Pentkowski, N S

2012-11-01

Social factors are important determinants of drug dependence and relapse. We reviewed pre-clinical literature examining the role of social experiences from early life through the development of drug dependence and relapse, emphasizing two aspects of these experiences: (1) whether the social interaction is appetitive or aversive and (2) whether the social interaction occurs within or outside of the drug-taking context. The models reviewed include neonatal care, isolation, social defeat, chronic subordination, and prosocial interactions. We review results from these models in regard to effects on self-administration and conditioned place preference established with alcohol, psychostimulants, and opiates. We suggest that in general, when the interactions occur outside of the drug-taking context, prosocial interactions are protective against drug abuse-related behaviors, whereas social stressors facilitate these behaviors. By contrast, positive or negative social interactions occurring within the drug-taking context may interact with other risk factors to enhance or inhibit these behaviors. Despite differences in the nature and complexity of human social behavior compared to other species, the evolving animal literature provides useful models for understanding social influences on drug abuse-related behavior that will allow for research on the behavioral and biological mechanisms involved. The models have contributed to understanding social influences on initiation and maintenance of drug use, but more research is needed to understand social influences on drug relapse.
Applying social marketing in health care: communicating evidence to change consumer behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, W Douglas; McCormack, Lauren

2008-01-01

Social marketing uses commercial marketing strategies to change individual and organizational behavior and policies. It has been effective on a population level across a wide range of public health and health care domains. There is limited evidence of the effectiveness of social marketing in changing health care consumer behavior through its impact on patient-provider interaction or provider behavior. Social marketers need to identify translatable strategies (e.g., competition analysis, branding, and tailored messages) that can be applied to health care provider and consumer behavior. Three case studies from social marketing illustrate potential strategies to change provider and consumer behavior. Countermarketing is a rapidly growing social marketing strategy that has been effective in tobacco control and may be effective in countering pharmaceutical marketing using specific message strategies. Informed decision making is a useful strategy when there is medical uncertainty, such as in prostate cancer screening and treatment. Pharmaceutical industry marketing practices offer valuable lessons for developing competing messages to reach providers and consumers. Social marketing is an effective population-based behavior change strategy that can be applied in individual clinical settings and as a complement to reinforce messages communicated on a population level. There is a need for more research on message strategies that work in health care and population-level effectiveness studies.
Young Adolescents' Gender-, Ethnicity-, and Popularity-Based Social Schemas of Aggressive Behavior

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Clemans, Katherine H.; Graber, Julia A.

2016-01-01

Social schemas can influence the perception and recollection of others' behavior and may create biases in the reporting of social events. This study investigated young adolescents' (N = 317) gender-, ethnicity-, and popularity-based social schemas of overtly and relationally aggressive behavior. Results indicated that participants associated overt…
Mouse Social Interaction Test (MoST): a quantitative computer automated analysis of behavior.

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Thanos, Panayotis K; Restif, Christophe; O'Rourke, Joseph R; Lam, Chiu Yin; Metaxas, Dimitris

2017-01-01

Rodents are the most commonly used preclinical model of human disease assessing the mechanism(s) involved as well as the role of genetics, epigenetics, and pharmacotherapy on this disease as well as identifying vulnerability factors and risk assessment for disease critical in the development of improved treatment strategies. Unfortunately, the majority of rodent preclinical studies utilize single housed approaches where animals are either entirely housed and tested in solitary environments or group housed but tested in solitary environments. This approach, however, ignores the important contribution of social interaction and social behavior. Social interaction in rodents is found to be a major criterion for the ethological validity of rodent species-specific behavioral characteristics (Zurn et al. 2007; Analysis 2011). It is also well established that there is significant and growing number of reports, which illustrates the important role of social environment and social interaction in all diseases, with particularly significance in all neuropsychiatric diseases. Thus, it is imperative that research studies be able to add large-scale evaluations of social interaction and behavior in mice and benefit from automated tracking of behaviors and measurements by removing user bias and by quantifying aspects of behaviors that cannot be assessed by a human observer. Single mouse setups have been used routinely, but cannot be easily extended to multiple-animal studies where social behavior is key, e.g., autism, depression, anxiety, substance and non-substance addictive disorders, aggression, sexual behavior, or parenting. While recent efforts are focusing on multiple-animal tracking alone, a significant limitation remains the lack of insightful measures of social interactions. We present a novel, non-invasive single camera-based automated tracking method described as Mouse Social Test (MoST) and set of measures designed for estimating the interactions of multiple mice at the
Responsive Social Agents: Feedback-Sensitive Behavior Generation for Social Interactions

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Vroon, Jered Hendrik; Englebienne, Gwenn; Evers, Vanessa; Agah, Arvin; Cabibihan, John-John; Howard, Ayanna M.; Salichs, Miguel A.; He, Hongsheng

2016-01-01

How can we generate appropriate behavior for social artificial agents? A common approach is to (1) establish with controlled experiments which action is most appropriate in which setting, and (2) select actions based on this knowledge and an estimate of the setting. This approach faces challenges,
Social Anxiety and Aggression in Behaviorally Disordered Children.

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Gonzalez, Ketty P.; And Others

1996-01-01

Thirty-nine boys in classes for students with behavioral disturbances were given questionnaires on trait anxiety, social anxiety, empathy, depression, and self-esteem, while teachers rated their aggression. Results showed that anxiety and empathy scores were not correlated with aggression, while social anxiety was positively correlated with trait…
Frequency of family meals and 6-11-year-old children's social behaviors.

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Lora, Karina R; Sisson, Susan B; DeGrace, Beth W; Morris, Amanda S

2014-08-01

Family meals are regarded as an opportunity to promote healthy child development. In this brief report, we examined the relationship between frequency of family meals and children's social behaviors in 6-11-year-olds. The 2007 U.S. National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) provided data on the frequency of family meals in a sample of 6-11-year-old children (N = 24,167). The following social behavior indicators were examined: child positive social skills, child problematic social behaviors, child engagement in school, and parental aggravation with the child. Individual logistic regression analyses were calculated in unadjusted and adjusted models. On average, families had 5.3 meals together per week. In adjusted models, more frequent family meals increased the odds of child positive social skills (OR = 1.08, 95% CI [1.02, 1.16]) and child engagement in school (OR = 1.11, 95% CI [1.06, 1.15]), and decreased the likelihood of child problematic social behaviors (OR = 0.92, 95% CI [0.87, 0.98]). There was no association between frequency of family meals and parental aggravation with the child (OR = 0.98, 95% CI [0.93, 1.04]). Findings support the promotion of family meals to benefit children's development of healthy social behaviors.
Peer-Based Social Media Features in Behavior Change Interventions: Systematic Review

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Weal, Mark; Morrison, Leanne; Yardley, Lucy

2018-01-01

Background Incorporating social media features into digital behavior change interventions (DBCIs) has the potential to contribute positively to their success. However, the lack of clear design principles to describe and guide the use of these features in behavioral interventions limits cross-study comparisons of their uses and effects. Objective The aim of this study was to provide a systematic review of DBCIs targeting modifiable behavioral risk factors that have included social media features as part of their intervention infrastructure. A taxonomy of social media features is presented to inform the development, description, and evaluation of behavioral interventions. Methods Search terms were used in 8 databases to identify DBCIs that incorporated social media features and targeted tobacco smoking, diet and nutrition, physical activities, or alcohol consumption. The screening and review process was performed by 2 independent researchers. Results A total of 5264 articles were screened, and 143 articles describing a total of 134 studies were retained for full review. The majority of studies (70%) reported positive outcomes, followed by 28% finding no effects with regard to their respective objectives and hypothesis, and 2% of the studies found that their interventions had negative outcomes. Few studies reported on the association between the inclusion of social media features and intervention effect. A taxonomy of social media features used in behavioral interventions has been presented with 36 social media features organized under 7 high-level categories. The taxonomy has been used to guide the analysis of this review. Conclusions Although social media features are commonly included in DBCIs, there is an acute lack of information with respect to their effect on outcomes and a lack of clear guidance to inform the selection process based on the features’ suitability for the different behaviors. The proposed taxonomy along with the set of recommendations included
The Influence of Proactive Socialization Behaviors and Team Socialization on Individual Performance in the Team

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Pennaforte, Antoine

2016-01-01

On the basis of the role and the social exchange theories, this research investigated the direct and indirect antecedents of three dimensions of team performance (proficiency, adaptivity, proactivity) developed through cooperative education. The theoretical model examined how proactive socialization behaviors led to team socialization and team…
Observing preschoolers' social-emotional behavior: structure, foundations, and prediction of early school success.

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Denham, Susanne A; Bassett, Hideko Hamada; Thayer, Sara K; Mincic, Melissa S; Sirotkin, Yana S; Zinsser, Katherine

2012-01-01

Social-emotional behavior of 352 3- and 4-year-olds attending private child-care and Head Start programs was observed using the Minnesota Preschool Affect Checklist, Revised (MPAC-R). Goals of the investigation included (a) using MPAC-R data to extract a shortened version, MPAC-R/S, comparing structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and stability of both versions; and, using the shortened measure, to examine (b) age, gender, and risk status differences in social-emotional behaviors; (c) contributions of emotion knowledge and executive function to social-emotional behaviors; and (d) contributions of social-emotional behaviors to early school adjustment and kindergarten academic success. Results show that reliability of MPAC-R/S was as good, or better, than the MPAC-R. MPAC-R/S structure, at both times of observation, included emotionally negative/aggressive, emotionally regulated/prosocial, and emotionally positive/productive behaviors; MPAC-R structure was similar but less replicable over time. Age, gender, and risk differences were found. Children's emotion knowledge contributed to later emotionally regulated/prosocial behavior. Finally, preschool emotionally negative/aggressive behaviors were associated with concurrent and kindergarten school success, and there was evidence of social-emotional behavior mediating relations between emotion knowledge or executive function, and school outcomes. The importance of portable, empirically supported observation measures of social-emotional behaviors is discussed along with possible applications, teacher utilization, and implementation barriers.

The salience of social referents: a field experiment on collective norms and harassment behavior in a school social network.

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Paluck, Elizabeth Levy; Shepherd, Hana

2012-12-01

Persistent, widespread harassment in schools can be understood as a product of collective school norms that deem harassment, and behavior allowing harassment to escalate, as typical and even desirable. Thus, one approach to reducing harassment is to change students' perceptions of these collective norms. Theory suggests that the public behavior of highly connected and chronically salient actors in a group, called social referents, may provide influential cues for individuals' perception of collective norms. Using repeated, complete social network surveys of a public high school, we demonstrate that changing the public behavior of a randomly assigned subset of student social referents changes their peers' perceptions of school collective norms and their harassment behavior. Social referents exert their influence over peers' perceptions of collective norms through the mechanism of everyday social interaction, particularly interaction that is frequent and personally motivated, in contrast to interaction shaped by institutional channels like shared classes. These findings clarify the development of collective social norms: They depend on certain patterns of and motivations for social interactions within groups across time, and are not static but constantly reshaped and reproduced through these interactions. Understanding this process creates opportunities for changing collective norms and behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
On the Control of Social Approach-Avoidance Behavior: Neural and Endocrine Mechanisms.

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Kaldewaij, Reinoud; Koch, Saskia B J; Volman, Inge; Toni, Ivan; Roelofs, Karin

The ability to control our automatic action tendencies is crucial for adequate social interactions. Emotional events trigger automatic approach and avoidance tendencies. Although these actions may be generally adaptive, the capacity to override these emotional reactions may be key to flexible behavior during social interaction. The present chapter provides a review of the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying this ability and their relation to social psychopathologies. Aberrant social behavior, such as observed in social anxiety or psychopathy, is marked by abnormalities in approach-avoidance tendencies and the ability to control them. Key neural regions involved in the regulation of approach-avoidance behavior are the amygdala, widely implicated in automatic emotional processing, and the anterior prefrontal cortex, which exerts control over the amygdala. Hormones, especially testosterone and cortisol, have been shown to affect approach-avoidance behavior and the associated neural mechanisms. The present chapter also discusses ways to directly influence social approach and avoidance behavior and will end with a research agenda to further advance this important research field. Control over approach-avoidance tendencies may serve as an exemplar of emotional action regulation and might have a great value in understanding the underlying mechanisms of the development of affective disorders.
Conceptual framework for behavioral and social science in HIV vaccine clinical research.

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Lau, Chuen-Yen; Swann, Edith M; Singh, Sagri; Kafaar, Zuhayr; Meissner, Helen I; Stansbury, James P

2011-10-13

HIV vaccine clinical research occurs within a context where biomedical science and social issues are interlinked. Previous HIV vaccine research has considered behavioral and social issues, but often treated them as independent of clinical research processes. Systematic attention to the intersection of behavioral and social issues within a defined clinical research framework is needed to address gaps, such as those related to participation in trials, completion of trials, and the overall research experience. Rigorous attention to these issues at project inception can inform trial design and conduct by matching research approaches to the context in which trials are to be conducted. Conducting behavioral and social sciences research concurrent with vaccine clinical research is important because it can help identify potential barriers to trial implementation, as well as ultimate acceptance and dissemination of trial results. We therefore propose a conceptual framework for behavioral and social science in HIV vaccine clinical research and use examples from the behavioral and social science literature to demonstrate how the model can facilitate identification of significant areas meriting additional exploration. Standardized use of the conceptual framework could improve HIV vaccine clinical research efficiency and relevance. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Investigating the Relationship between Self-Injurious Behavior, Social Deficits, and Cooccurring Behaviors in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Paul Waters

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Research suggests that self-injurious behavior (SIB is related to social deficits and cooccurring problem behaviors in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. A sample of 95 participants with ASD was assessed on presence and frequency of SIB (Behavior Problems Inventory, social deficits (the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters-II and cooccurring problem behaviors (ASD-Comorbidity-Child version. A model was created and tested to explain the relationship between these variables. Results showed that the model was acceptable in presenting the relationships between these variables. This information could be used to help predict which individuals are at risk of developing further cooccurring behavioral problems and determine risk markers for the development of social deficits.
The neural and behavioral correlates of social evaluation in childhood

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Michelle Achterberg

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Being accepted or rejected by peers is highly salient for developing social relations in childhood. We investigated the behavioral and neural correlates of social feedback and subsequent aggression in 7–10-year-old children, using the Social Network Aggression Task (SNAT. Participants viewed pictures of peers that gave positive, neutral or negative feedback to the participant’s profile. Next, participants could blast a loud noise towards the peer, as an index of aggression. We included three groups (N = 19, N = 28 and N = 27 and combined the results meta-analytically. Negative social feedback resulted in the most behavioral aggression, with large combined effect-sizes. Whole brain condition effects for each separate sample failed to show robust effects, possibly due to the small samples. Exploratory analyses over the combined test and replication samples confirmed heightened activation in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC after negative social feedback. Moreover, meta-analyses of activity in predefined regions of interest showed that negative social feedback resulted in more neural activation in the amygdala, anterior insula and the mPFC/anterior cingulate cortex. Together, the results show that social motivation is already highly salient in middle childhood, and indicate that the SNAT is a valid paradigm for assessing the neural and behavioral correlates of social evaluation in children.
Social and behavioral barriers to pathogen transmission in wild animal populations

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Loehle, C.S.

1988-12-31

Disease and pathogens have been studied as regulators of animal populations but not really as selective forces. The authors propose that pathogens can be major selective forces influencing social behaviors when these are successful at reducing disease transmission. The behaviors whose evolution could have been influenced by pathogen effects include group size, group isolation, mixed species flocking, migration, seasonal sociality, social avoidance, and dominance behaviors. Mate choice, mating system, and sexual selection are put in a new light when examined in terms of disease transmission. It is concluded that pathogen avoidance is a more powerful selective force than has heretofore been recognized.
Social gaming rules : Changing people's behavior through games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vegt, N.J.H.; Visch, V.T.

2013-01-01

In this paper we propose an approach towards designing social games or game elements for changing people’s social behavior for serious applications. We use the concept of the magic circle, which outlines the experience of a game world as different from the real world. We can design a connection
Does a Positive Bias Relate to Social Behavior in Children with ADHD?

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Linnea, Kate; Hoza, Betsy; Tomb, Meghan; Kaiser, Nina

2012-01-01

This study examines whether positively biased self-perceptions relate to social behaviors in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as compared to control children. The social behaviors of children with ADHD (n = 87) were examined relative to control children (CTL; n = 38) during a laboratory-based dyadic social interaction…
Cognitive Modeling of Social Behaviors

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Clancey, William J.; Sierhuis, Maarten; Damer. Bruce; Brodsky, Boris

2004-01-01

The driving theme of cognitive modeling for many decades has been that knowledge affects how and which goals are accomplished by an intelligent being (Newell 1991). But when one examines groups of people living and working together, one is forced to recognize that whose knowledge is called into play, at a particular time and location, directly affects what the group accomplishes. Indeed, constraints on participation, including roles, procedures, and norms, affect whether an individual is able to act at all (Lave & Wenger 1991; Jordan 1992; Scribner & Sachs 1991). To understand both individual cognition and collective activity, perhaps the greatest opportunity today is to integrate the cognitive modeling approach (which stresses how beliefs are formed and drive behavior) with social studies (which stress how relationships and informal practices drive behavior). The crucial insight is that norms are conceptualized in the individual &nd as ways of carrying out activities (Clancey 1997a, 2002b). This requires for the psychologist a shift from only modeling goals and tasks - why people do what they do - to modeling behavioral patterns-what people do-as they are engaged in purposeful activities. Instead of a model that exclusively deduces actions from goals, behaviors are also, if not primarily, driven by broader patterns of chronological and located activities (akin to scripts). This analysis is particular inspired by activity theory (Leont ev 1979). While acknowledging that knowledge (relating goals and operations) is fundamental for intelligent behavior, activity theory claims that a broader driver is the person s motives and conceptualization of activities. Such understanding of human interaction is normative (i.e., viewed with respect to social standards), affecting how knowledge is called into play and applied in practice. Put another way, how problems are discovered and framed, what methods are chosen, and indeed who even cares or has the authority to act, are all
Reactivity to Social Stress in Subclinical Social Anxiety: Emotional Experience, Cognitive Appraisals, Behavior, and Physiology

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Crişan, Liviu G.; Vulturar, Romana; Miclea, Mircea; Miu, Andrei C.

2016-01-01

Recent research indicates that subclinical social anxiety is associated with dysfunctions at multiple psychological and biological levels, in a manner that seems reminiscent of social anxiety disorder (SAD). This study aimed to describe multidimensional responses to laboratory-induced social stress in an analog sample selected for social anxiety symptoms. State anxiety, cognitive biases related to negative social evaluation, speech anxiety behaviors, and cortisol reactivity were assessed in t...
The dominance behavioral system and manic temperament: motivation for dominance, self-perceptions of power, and socially dominant behaviors.

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Johnson, Sheri L; Carver, Charles S

2012-12-15

The dominance behavioral system has been conceptualized as a biologically based system comprising motivation to achieve social power and self-perceptions of power. Biological, behavioral, and social correlates of dominance motivation and self-perceived power have been related to a range of psychopathological tendencies. Preliminary evidence suggests that mania and risk for mania (manic temperament) relate to the dominance system. Four studies examine whether manic temperament, measured with the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS), is related to elevations in dominance motivation, self-perceptions of power, and engagement in socially dominant behavior across multiple measures. In Study 1, the HPS correlated with measures of dominance motivation and the pursuit of extrinsically-oriented ambitions for fame and wealth among 454 undergraduates. In Study 2, the HPS correlated with perceptions of power and extrinsically-oriented lifetime ambitions among 780 undergraduates. In Study 3, the HPS was related to trait-like tendencies to experience hubristic (dominance-related) pride, as well as dominance motivation and pursuit of extrinsically-oriented ambitions. In Study 4, we developed the Socially Dominant Behavior Scale to capture behaviors reflecting high power. The scale correlated highly with the HPS among 514 undergraduates. The studies rely on self-ratings of manic temperament and dominance constructs, and findings have not yet been generalized to a clinical sample. Taken together, results support the hypothesis that manic temperament is related to a focus on achieving social dominance, ambitions related to achieving social recognition, perceptions of having achieved power, tendencies to experience dominance-related pride, and engagement in social behaviors consistent with this elevated sense of power. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Novel approach to automatically classify rat social behavior using a video tracking system.

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Peters, Suzanne M; Pinter, Ilona J; Pothuizen, Helen H J; de Heer, Raymond C; van der Harst, Johanneke E; Spruijt, Berry M

2016-08-01

In the past, studies in behavioral neuroscience and drug development have relied on simple and quick readout parameters of animal behavior to assess treatment efficacy or to understand underlying brain mechanisms. The predominant use of classical behavioral tests has been repeatedly criticized during the last decades because of their poor reproducibility, poor translational value and the limited explanatory power in functional terms. We present a new method to monitor social behavior of rats using automated video tracking. The velocity of moving and the distance between two rats were plotted in frequency distributions. In addition, behavior was manually annotated and related to the automatically obtained parameters for a validated interpretation. Inter-individual distance in combination with velocity of movement provided specific behavioral classes, such as moving with high velocity when "in contact" or "in proximity". Human observations showed that these classes coincide with following (chasing) behavior. In addition, when animals are "in contact", but at low velocity, behaviors such as allogrooming and social investigation were observed. Also, low dose treatment with morphine and short isolation increased the time animals spent in contact or in proximity at high velocity. Current methods that involve the investigation of social rat behavior are mostly limited to short and relatively simple manual observations. A new and automated method for analyzing social behavior in a social interaction test is presented here and shows to be sensitive to drug treatment and housing conditions known to influence social behavior in rats. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Does teachers’ education about social competence influence the frequency of pro-social and aggressive behavior in preschool children?

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Glavina Eleonora

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Children’s aggressive behavior is a common problem of specialists who work in preschool institutions, with proportionally less frequent occurrence of pro-social behavior. The aim of this action research was to determine whether additional training of educators in ways and skills of stimulating children’s social competence can influence reduced the frequency of aggressive and increased the frequency of pro-social behavior among children of preschool age. The training included 49 teachers, educators in kindergarten Čakovec, and comprised lectures, workshops and practical application that lasted for three months, under the mentorship of a psychologist. Before carrying out the activities and after the implementation period of three months, educators used the scale Pros/Ag (N = 466 to evaluate the children. The results indicate a statistically significant increase in the frequency of pro-social behavior and decrease in the frequency of aggressive behavior in children of both genders. However, in the absence of a control group, the reason for progress in the desired direction may be the maturation and error of evaluators, and hence the results can be generalized to a limited extent. Qualitative analysis of gender differences suggests the possibility that education leads to equalization of boys and girls in pro-social behavior, but not in aggressive behavior. The number of participants, as well as the results obtained, suggests interest and need to organize additional training in this area.
Individual and Social Predictors of Prosocial Behavior among Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong

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Lai, Frank H. Y.; Siu, Andrew M. H.; Shek, Daniel T. L.

2015-01-01

Based on the human ecological model, this study hypothesized that individual competence in empathy, prosocial moral reasoning, and social influence from parents, peers, and school are the key determinants of prosocial behavior among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. We recruited a sample of high school students who engaged in volunteering activities regularly (N = 580). They completed a self-administrated questionnaire designed to measure prosocial behavior and its hypothesized predictors using a number of standardized instruments. The results of multiple regression show that social influence factors, including peer, school, and parent influence, are strong predictors of helping intention and prosocial behavior, while individual competence factors like empathy and prosocial moral reasoning are not. Male participants had higher empathy scores and helping intention than females, perceived their parents as more helpful, and their schools as more supportive of prosocial behavior. However, the significant predictors of prosocial behavior and helping intention were similar across gender. The findings indicate that social influence is strongly linked to prosocial behavior. This implies that socialization and social support for prosocial norms and behavior can exert a powerful influence on the behavior of young people in a Chinese population. PMID:26029684
Marijuana-related problems and social anxiety: the role of marijuana behaviors in social situations.

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Buckner, Julia D; Heimberg, Richard G; Matthews, Russell A; Silgado, Jose

2012-03-01

Individuals with elevated social anxiety appear particularly vulnerable to marijuana-related problems. In fact, individuals with social anxiety may be more likely to experience marijuana-related impairment than individuals with other types of anxiety. It is therefore important to determine whether constructs particularly relevant to socially anxious individuals play a role in the expression of marijuana-related problems in this vulnerable population. Given that both social avoidance and using marijuana to cope with negative affect broadly have been found to play a role in marijuana-related problems, the current study utilized a new measure designed to simultaneously assess social avoidance and using marijuana to cope in situations previously identified as anxiety-provoking among those with elevated social anxiety. The Marijuana Use to Cope with Social Anxiety Scale (MCSAS) assessed behaviors regarding 24 social situations: marijuana use to cope in social situations (MCSAS-Cope) and avoidance of social situations if marijuana was unavailable. In Study 1, we found preliminary support for the convergent and discriminant validity and internal consistency of the MCSAS scales. In Study 2, we examined if MCSAS scores were related to marijuana problems among those with (n = 44) and without (n = 44) clinically elevated social anxiety. Individuals with clinically meaningful social anxiety were more likely to use marijuana to cope in social situations and to avoid social situations if marijuana was unavailable. Of importance, MCSAS-Cope uniquely mediated the relationship between social anxiety group status and marijuana-related problems. Results highlight the importance of contextual factors in assessing marijuana-related behaviors among high-risk populations. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.
Neuroligins Nlg2 and Nlg4 Affect Social Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster

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Kristina Corthals

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The genome of Drosophila melanogaster includes homologs to approximately one-third of the currently known human disease genes. Flies and humans share many biological processes, including the principles of information processing by excitable neurons, synaptic transmission, and the chemical signals involved in intercellular communication. Studies on the molecular and behavioral impact of genetic risk factors of human neuro-developmental disorders [autism spectrum disorders (ASDs, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, and Tourette syndrome] increasingly use the well-studied social behavior of D. melanogaster, an organism that is amenable to a large variety of genetic manipulations. Neuroligins (Nlgs are a family of phylogenetically conserved postsynaptic adhesion molecules present (among others in nematodes, insects, and mammals. Impaired function of Nlgs (particularly of Nlg 3 and 4 has been associated with ASDs in humans and impaired social and communication behavior in mice. Making use of a set of behavioral and social assays, we, here, analyzed the impact of two Drosophila Nlgs, Dnlg2 and Dnlg4, which are differentially expressed at excitatory and inhibitory central nervous synapses, respectively. Both Nlgs seem to be associated with diurnal activity and social behavior. Even though deficiencies in Dnlg2 and Dnlg4 appeared to have no effects on sensory or motor systems, they differentially impacted on social interactions, suggesting that social behavior is distinctly regulated by these Nlgs.
Neuroligins Nlg2 and Nlg4 Affect Social Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster.

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Corthals, Kristina; Heukamp, Alina Sophia; Kossen, Robert; Großhennig, Isabel; Hahn, Nina; Gras, Heribert; Göpfert, Martin C; Heinrich, Ralf; Geurten, Bart R H

2017-01-01

The genome of Drosophila melanogaster includes homologs to approximately one-third of the currently known human disease genes. Flies and humans share many biological processes, including the principles of information processing by excitable neurons, synaptic transmission, and the chemical signals involved in intercellular communication. Studies on the molecular and behavioral impact of genetic risk factors of human neuro-developmental disorders [autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, and Tourette syndrome] increasingly use the well-studied social behavior of D. melanogaster , an organism that is amenable to a large variety of genetic manipulations. Neuroligins (Nlgs) are a family of phylogenetically conserved postsynaptic adhesion molecules present (among others) in nematodes, insects, and mammals. Impaired function of Nlgs (particularly of Nlg 3 and 4) has been associated with ASDs in humans and impaired social and communication behavior in mice. Making use of a set of behavioral and social assays, we, here, analyzed the impact of two Drosophila Nlgs, Dnlg2 and Dnlg4, which are differentially expressed at excitatory and inhibitory central nervous synapses, respectively. Both Nlgs seem to be associated with diurnal activity and social behavior. Even though deficiencies in Dnlg2 and Dnlg4 appeared to have no effects on sensory or motor systems, they differentially impacted on social interactions, suggesting that social behavior is distinctly regulated by these Nlgs.
Social-Psychological Determinants of Electoral Voting Behavior

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K A Ivanenko

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This article reviews the current models of the voter behavior and proves the need in creating a new overarching conceptual framework, finding the integral social-psychological factor of the voter decision making. The public opinion is regarded as such a factor. The article presents the findings of the latest psychological research, devoted to the analysis of the connection between the different components of public opinion and electoral behavior.
Impaired social behavior in 5-HT3A receptor knockout mice

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Laura A Smit-Rigter

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The 5-HT3 receptor is a ligand-gated ion channel expressed on interneurons throughout the brain. So far, analysis of the 5-HT3A knockout mouse revealed changes in nociceptive processing and a reduction in anxiety related behavior. Recently, it was shown that the 5-HT3 receptor is also expressed on Cajal-Retzius cells which play a key role in cortical development and that knockout mice lacking this receptor showed aberrant growth of the dendritic tree of cortical layer II/III pyramidal neurons. Other mouse models in which serotonergic signaling was disrupted during development showed similar morphological changes in the cortex, and in addition, also deficits in social behavior. Here, we subjected male and female 5-HT3A knockout mice and their non-transgenic littermates to several tests of social behavior. We found that 5-HT3A knockout mice display impaired social communication in the social transmission of food preference task. Interestingly, we showed that in the social interaction test only female 5-HT3A knockout mice spent less time in reciprocal social interaction starting after 5 minutes of testing. Moreover, we observed differences in preference for social novelty for male and female 5-HT3A knockout mice during the social approach test. However, no changes in olfaction, exploratory activity and anxiety were detected. These results indicate that the 5-HT3A knockout mouse displays impaired social behavior with specific changes in males and females, reminiscent to other mouse models in which serotonergic signaling is disturbed in the developing brain.
Social-cognitive correlates of risky adolescent cycling behavior

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Ruiter Robert AC

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Bicycle use entails high safety and health risks especially for adolescents. Most safety education programs aimed at adolescents focus on accident statistics and risk perceptions. This paper proposes the investigation of the social-cognitive correlates of risky cycling behaviors of adolescents prior to developing safety education programs. Method Secondary school students aged 13 to 18 years (n = 1446 filled out questionnaires regarding bicycle behavior, risky intentions, accident experience, and social-cognitive determinants as suggested by the theory of planned behavior. Results Regression analysis revealed that the proximal variables (i.e., self-efficacy, attitudes towards drunk driving, personal norm regarding safekeeping of self and others, and compared risk were able to predict 17% of the variance of risky behavior and 23% of the variance of risky intentions. The full model explained respectively 29% and 37% of the variance in risky behavior and risky intentions. Adolescents with positive attitudes towards risky behavior and low sense of responsibility report risky behavior, even when having been (close to an accident. Conclusions Adolescents realize whether they are risk takers or not. This implies that the focus of education programs should not be on risk perceptions, but on decreasing positive attitudes towards alcohol in traffic and increasing sense of responsibility instead. Cognitions regarding near accidents should be studied, the role of safe cycling self-efficacy is unclear.

Assessing the Transition-Related Social Behavior of Seriously Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents.

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Bullis, Michael

1990-01-01

The newsletter describes two projects of the Teaching Research Infant and Child Center (Oregon) which are developing assessment systems for use with severely emotionally disturbed (SED) adolescents. The first project focuses on job-related social behavior while the second project addresses social behavior in community settings. An introductory…
Social Workers and the NASW "Code of Ethics": Belief, Behavior, Disjuncture

Science.gov (United States)

DiFranks, Nikki Nelson

2008-01-01

A quantitative descriptive survey of a national sample of social workers (N = 206) examined discrepancies between belief in the NASW "Code of Ethics" and behavior in implementing the code and social workers' disjunctive distress (disjuncture) when belief and behavior are discordant. Relationships between setting and disjuncture and ethics…
Adolescent Narcissism, Aggression, and Prosocial Behavior: The Relevance of Socially Desirable Responding.

Science.gov (United States)

Barry, Christopher T; Lui, Joyce H L; Anderson, Alexandra C

2017-01-01

An important threat to validity in personality research pertains to an individual's motivation to respond in a socially desirable manner on self-report inventories. This issue was examined in this study in the context of narcissism, aggression, and prosocial behavior in a sample of at-risk adolescents. Participants were 161 adolescents (128 males, 29 females, 4 not reported) ranging in age from 16 to 19 years who were attending a residential program for youth who have dropped out of school. Overall, socially desirable response tendencies were negatively correlated with vulnerable narcissism and self-reported aggression. Moreover, low socially desirable responses strengthened the relation between narcissism and self-reported aggression. Socially desirable responding was not associated with self- or peer-reported prosocial behavior and did not moderate the relation between narcissism and prosocial behavior. These findings indicate that the relation between narcissism and aggression is attenuated by concerns with social desirability. However, further work is needed in broader samples of adolescents to more closely examine whether social desirability concerns actually mitigate aggression among some youth or signify underreporting of one's problem behaviors.
Automated measurement of mouse social behaviors using depth sensing, video tracking, and machine learning.

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Hong, Weizhe; Kennedy, Ann; Burgos-Artizzu, Xavier P; Zelikowsky, Moriel; Navonne, Santiago G; Perona, Pietro; Anderson, David J

2015-09-22

A lack of automated, quantitative, and accurate assessment of social behaviors in mammalian animal models has limited progress toward understanding mechanisms underlying social interactions and their disorders such as autism. Here we present a new integrated hardware and software system that combines video tracking, depth sensing, and machine learning for automatic detection and quantification of social behaviors involving close and dynamic interactions between two mice of different coat colors in their home cage. We designed a hardware setup that integrates traditional video cameras with a depth camera, developed computer vision tools to extract the body "pose" of individual animals in a social context, and used a supervised learning algorithm to classify several well-described social behaviors. We validated the robustness of the automated classifiers in various experimental settings and used them to examine how genetic background, such as that of Black and Tan Brachyury (BTBR) mice (a previously reported autism model), influences social behavior. Our integrated approach allows for rapid, automated measurement of social behaviors across diverse experimental designs and also affords the ability to develop new, objective behavioral metrics.
Perceived neighborhood social resources as determinants of prosocial behavior in early adolescence.

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Lenzi, Michela; Vieno, Alessio; Perkins, Douglas D; Pastore, Massimiliano; Santinello, Massimo; Mazzardis, Sonia

2012-09-01

The present study aims to develop an integrative model that links neighborhood behavioral opportunities and social resources (neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood friendship and neighborhood attachment) to prosocial (sharing, helping, empathic) behavior in early adolescence, taking into account the potential mediating role of perceived support of friends. Path analysis was used to test the proposed theoretical model in a sample of 1,145 Italian early adolescents (6th through 8th graders). More perceived opportunities and social resources in the neighborhood are related to higher levels of adolescent prosocial behavior, and this relationship is partially mediated by perceived social support from friends. The results offer promising implications for future research and intervention programs that aim to modify social systems to improve child and adolescent social competencies.
Studying fish social behavior and cognition: implications for fish welfare and conservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui F Oliveira

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Within vertebrates teleost fish are the most diverse and plastic taxa in terms of social behavior. With over 29,000 species described so far, one can find all different types of social organization, mating systems and parental care types. Moreover, it is relatively common to find variation of these characters within closely related species, which makes them suitable for comparative studies on the evolution of social behavior (e.g. variation in mating systems and parental care type in African cichlids. Fish are also champions of social plasticity, as can be illustrated by the flexible patterns of sexual expression, as in the case of protrandrous and protogynous sex-change, simultaneous hermaphroditism and intra-sexual variation in the form of discrete alternative male phenotypes. Complex cognitive abilities used in social interactions have also evolved in fish, such as individual recognition, transitive inference and social learning. Therefore, teleosts offer unique opportunities to study both the evolution and the function of social behavior and cognition. In this talk I will summarize the work that our lab has been doing to establish zebrafish as a model organism for the study of social behavior and cognition and I will illustrate how knowledge on this are can be applied to fish welfare and to conservation issues.
Research on Web Search Behavior: How Online Query Data Inform Social Psychology.

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Lai, Kaisheng; Lee, Yan Xin; Chen, Hao; Yu, Rongjun

2017-10-01

The widespread use of web searches in daily life has allowed researchers to study people's online social and psychological behavior. Using web search data has advantages in terms of data objectivity, ecological validity, temporal resolution, and unique application value. This review integrates existing studies on web search data that have explored topics including sexual behavior, suicidal behavior, mental health, social prejudice, social inequality, public responses to policies, and other psychosocial issues. These studies are categorized as descriptive, correlational, inferential, predictive, and policy evaluation research. The integration of theory-based hypothesis testing in future web search research will result in even stronger contributions to social psychology.
Handling newborn monkeys alters later exploratory, cognitive, and social behaviors.

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Simpson, Elizabeth A; Sclafani, Valentina; Paukner, Annika; Kaburu, Stefano S K; Suomi, Stephen J; Ferrari, Pier F

2017-08-18

Touch is one of the first senses to develop and one of the earliest modalities for infant-caregiver communication. While studies have explored the benefits of infant touch in terms of physical health and growth, the effects of social touch on infant behavior are relatively unexplored. Here, we investigated the influence of neonatal handling on a variety of domains, including memory, novelty seeking, and social interest, in infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta; n=48) from 2 to 12 weeks of age. Neonates were randomly assigned to receive extra holding, with or without accompanying face-to-face interactions. Extra-handled infants, compared to standard-reared infants, exhibited less stress-related behavior and more locomotion around a novel environment, faster approach of novel objects, better working memory, and less fear towards a novel social partner. In sum, infants who received more tactile stimulation in the neonatal period subsequently demonstrated more advanced motor, social, and cognitive skills-particularly in contexts involving exploration of novelty-in the first three months of life. These data suggest that social touch may support behavioral development, offering promising possibilities for designing future early interventions, particularly for infants who are at heightened risk for social disorders. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Sensitive Periods, Vasotocin-Family Peptides, and the Evolution and Development of Social Behavior

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Nicole M. Baran

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Nonapeptides, by modulating the activity of neural circuits in specific social contexts, provide an important mechanism underlying the evolution of diverse behavioral phenotypes across vertebrate taxa. Vasotocin-family nonapeptides, in particular, have been found to be involved in behavioral plasticity and diversity in social behavior, including seasonal variation, sexual dimorphism, and species differences. Although nonapeptides have been the focus of a great deal of research over the last several decades, the vast majority of this work has focused on adults. However, behavioral diversity may also be explained by the ways in which these peptides shape neural circuits and influence social processes during development. In this review, I synthesize comparative work on vasotocin-family peptides during development and classic work on early forms of social learning in developmental psychobiology. I also summarize recent work demonstrating that early life manipulations of the nonapeptide system alter attachment, affiliation, and vocal learning in zebra finches. I thus hypothesize that vasotocin-family peptides are involved in the evolution of social behaviors through their influence on learning during sensitive periods in social development.
Social experiences during adolescence affect anxiety-like behavior but not aggressiveness in male mice.

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Meyer, Neele; Jenikejew, Julia; Richter, S Helene; Kaiser, Sylvia; Sachser, Norbert

2017-05-30

Adolescence has lately been recognized as a key developmental phase during which an individual's behavior can be shaped. In a recent study with male mice varying in the expression of the serotonin transporter, escapable adverse social experiences during adolescence led to decreased anxiety-like behavior and increased exploratory and aggressive behavior compared to throughout beneficial experiences. Since in this study some behavioral tests took place with a delay of one week after the last social experiences have been made, it was not clear whether the observed effects really reflected the consequences of the experienced different social environments. To test this, the present study focused on the direct effects of beneficial and adverse social experiences on aggressiveness and anxiety-like behavior in C57BL/6J mice. In contrast to the previous study, behavioral testing took place immediately after the last social experiences had been made. Interestingly, whereas individuals from an escapable adverse environment showed significantly lower levels of anxiety-like and higher levels of exploratory behavior than animals from a beneficial environment, aggressive behavior was not affected. From this, we conclude that different social experiences during adolescence exert immediate effects on anxiety-like but not aggressive behavior in male mice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
School-based obesity policy, social capital, and gender differences in weight control behaviors.

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Zhu, Ling; Thomas, Breanca

2013-06-01

We examined the associations among school-based obesity policies, social capital, and adolescents' self-reported weight control behaviors, focusing on how the collective roles of community and adopted policies affect gender groups differently. We estimated state-level ecologic models using 1-way random effects seemingly unrelated regressions derived from panel data for 43 states from 1991 to 2009, which we obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. We used multiplicative interaction terms to assess how social capital moderates the effects of school-based obesity policies. School-based obesity policies in active communities were mixed in improving weight control behaviors. They increased both healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviors among boys but did not increase healthy weight control behaviors among girls. Social capital is an important contextual factor that conditions policy effectiveness in large contexts. Heterogeneous behavioral responses are associated with both school-based obesity policies and social capital. Building social capital and developing policy programs to balance outcomes for both gender groups may be challenging in managing childhood obesity.
Still lonely: Social adjustment of youth with and without social anxiety disorder following cognitive behavioral therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Suveg, Cynthia; Kingery, Julie Newman; Davis, Molly; Jones, Anna; Whitehead, Monica; Jacob, Marni L

2017-12-01

Social experiences are an integral part of normative development for youth and social functioning difficulties are related to poor outcomes. Youth with anxiety disorders, and particularly social anxiety disorder, experience difficulties across many aspects of social functioning that may place them at risk for maladjustment. The goal of this paper was to compare social experiences of youth across anxiety diagnoses and examine whether treatment is helpful in improving social functioning. Ninety-two children (age 7-12 years; 58% male; 87.0% White) with a primary diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and/or social anxiety disorder participated in cognitive behavioral therapy. At both pre- and post-treatment, children with social anxiety disorder self-reported greater loneliness than youth without social anxiety disorder, though levels of peer victimization and receipt of prosocial behavior were similar across groups. Parents reported greater social problems for youth with social anxiety disorder compared to those without social anxiety disorder. All youth experienced improved social functioning following treatment per child- and parent-reports. The results call for an increased focus on the social experiences of youth with anxiety disorders, and particularly loneliness, for children with social anxiety disorder. The results document ways that evidenced-based practice can improve social functioning for youth with anxiety disorders. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Peer-Based Social Media Features in Behavior Change Interventions: Systematic Review.

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Elaheebocus, Sheik Mohammad Roushdat Ally; Weal, Mark; Morrison, Leanne; Yardley, Lucy

2018-02-22

Incorporating social media features into digital behavior change interventions (DBCIs) has the potential to contribute positively to their success. However, the lack of clear design principles to describe and guide the use of these features in behavioral interventions limits cross-study comparisons of their uses and effects. The aim of this study was to provide a systematic review of DBCIs targeting modifiable behavioral risk factors that have included social media features as part of their intervention infrastructure. A taxonomy of social media features is presented to inform the development, description, and evaluation of behavioral interventions. Search terms were used in 8 databases to identify DBCIs that incorporated social media features and targeted tobacco smoking, diet and nutrition, physical activities, or alcohol consumption. The screening and review process was performed by 2 independent researchers. A total of 5264 articles were screened, and 143 articles describing a total of 134 studies were retained for full review. The majority of studies (70%) reported positive outcomes, followed by 28% finding no effects with regard to their respective objectives and hypothesis, and 2% of the studies found that their interventions had negative outcomes. Few studies reported on the association between the inclusion of social media features and intervention effect. A taxonomy of social media features used in behavioral interventions has been presented with 36 social media features organized under 7 high-level categories. The taxonomy has been used to guide the analysis of this review. Although social media features are commonly included in DBCIs, there is an acute lack of information with respect to their effect on outcomes and a lack of clear guidance to inform the selection process based on the features' suitability for the different behaviors. The proposed taxonomy along with the set of recommendations included in this review will support future research aimed
Social relationships and health related behaviors among older US adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Watt, Richard G; Heilmann, Anja; Sabbah, Wael; Newton, Tim; Chandola, Tarani; Aida, Jun; Sheiham, Aubrey; Marmot, Michael; Kawachi, Ichiro; Tsakos, Georgios

2014-05-30

Health behaviors are a key determinant of health and well-being that are influenced by the nature of the social environment. This study examined associations between social relationships and health-related behaviors among a nationally representative sample of older people. We analyzed data from three waves (1999-2004) of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Participants were 4,014 older Americans aged 60 and over. Log-binomial regression models estimated prevalence ratios (PR) for the associations between social relationships and each of the following health behaviors: alcohol use, smoking, physical activity and dental attendance. Health-compromising behaviors (smoking, heavy drinking and less frequent dental visits) were related to marital status, while physical activity, a health-promoting behavior, was associated with the size of friendship networks. Smoking was more common among divorced/separated (PR = 2.1; 95% CI: 1.6, 2.7) and widowed (PR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.3, 2.3) respondents than among those married or cohabiting, after adjusting for socio-demographic background. Heavy drinking was 2.6 times more common among divorced/separated and 1.7 times more common among widowed men compared to married/cohabiting men, while there was no such association among women. For women, heavy drinking was associated with being single (PR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.0, 2.9). Being widowed was related to a lower prevalence of having visited a dentist compared to being married or living with a partner (PR = 0.92; 95% CI 0.86, 0.99). Those with a larger circle of friends were more likely to be physically active (PR = 1.17; 95% CI:1.06, 1.28 for 5-8 versus less than 5 friends). Social relationships of older Americans were independently associated with different health-related behaviors, even after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic determinants. Availability of emotional support did not however mediate these associations. More research is
75 FR 50783 - Committee for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-17

... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ADVISORY Committee for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences..., Behavioral, and Economic Sciences ( 1171). Date/Time: September 7, 2010; 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. September 8... Assistant Director, Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation...
Predicting behavior change from persuasive messages using neural representational similarity and social network analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Pegors, Teresa K; Tompson, Steven; O'Donnell, Matthew Brook; Falk, Emily B

2017-08-15

Neural activity in medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), identified as engaging in self-related processing, predicts later health behavior change. However, it is unknown to what extent individual differences in neural representation of content and lived experience influence this brain-behavior relationship. We examined whether the strength of content-specific representations during persuasive messaging relates to later behavior change, and whether these relationships change as a function of individuals' social network composition. In our study, smokers viewed anti-smoking messages while undergoing fMRI and we measured changes in their smoking behavior one month later. Using representational similarity analyses, we found that the degree to which message content (i.e. health, social, or valence information) was represented in a self-related processing MPFC region was associated with later smoking behavior, with increased representations of negatively valenced (risk) information corresponding to greater message-consistent behavior change. Furthermore, the relationship between representations and behavior change depended on social network composition: smokers who had proportionally fewer smokers in their network showed increases in smoking behavior when social or health content was strongly represented in MPFC, whereas message-consistent behavior (i.e., less smoking) was more likely for those with proportionally more smokers in their social network who represented social or health consequences more strongly. These results highlight the dynamic relationship between representations in MPFC and key outcomes such as health behavior change; a complete understanding of the role of MPFC in motivation and action should take into account individual differences in neural representation of stimulus attributes and social context variables such as social network composition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Understanding environment-influenced swarm behavior from a social force perspective

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Jiang, J.; Lu, D.; Jiang, Y.; Lee, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Yu, J.

2018-02-01

The relevant research on swarm behavior has focused on the facts that when individuals agree with other members in the system globally consistent behaviors are generated and that individual decisions are completely dominated by other members. In fact, when individuals generate their own behavior strategies, they tend to consider not only the influences of other members but also autonomically consider their current environment. For example, in the social foraging of flocks, the behavior strategy of each individual animal is influenced by the food distribution, and individual movement patterns are characterized by a highly efficient search strategy-Lévy walks. To investigate this, this paper proposes using an environment-driven social force perspective to explore the Lévy walks of individuals in a group in patchy food environments. This model adopts the concept of social force to quantify the social effects and the interactions between individuals and food. The coordination between forces is a key in the formation of individual behavior strategies. Our simulation results show a power-law frequency distribution for agent flight lengths that conforms to Lévy walks and verifies the hypothesis of a relationship between food density and the Lévy index. In our model, the flock still exhibits collective consistency and cohesion and yields a high value for the order parameter and population density when moving between food patches. In addition, our model explains the intraspecific cooperation and competition that occurs during foraging as proposed in related work. The simulation also validates the impact of two inducements for individual behaviors compared with several benchmark models.
Classroom peer relationships and behavioral engagement in elementary school: the role of social network equity.

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Cappella, Elise; Kim, Ha Yeon; Neal, Jennifer W; Jackson, Daisy R

2013-12-01

Applying social capital and systems theories of social processes, we examine the role of the classroom peer context in the behavioral engagement of low-income students (N = 80) in urban elementary school classrooms (N = 22). Systematic child observations were conducted to assess behavioral engagement among second to fifth graders in the fall and spring of the same school year. Classroom observations, teacher and child questionnaires, and social network data were collected in the fall. Confirming prior research, results from multilevel models indicate that students with more behavioral difficulties or less academic motivation in the fall were less behaviorally engaged in the spring. Extending prior research, classrooms with more equitably distributed and interconnected social ties-social network equity-had more behaviorally engaged students in the spring, especially in classrooms with higher levels of observed organization (i.e., effective management of behavior, time, and attention). Moreover, social network equity attenuated the negative relation between student behavioral difficulties and behavioral engagement, suggesting that students with behavioral difficulties were less disengaged in classrooms with more equitably distributed and interconnected social ties. Findings illuminate the need to consider classroom peer contexts in future research and intervention focused on the behavioral engagement of students in urban elementary schools.
The Neural Basis of and a Common Neural Circuitry in Different Types of Pro-social Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Luo

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Pro-social behaviors are voluntary behaviors that benefit other people or society as a whole, such as charitable donations, cooperation, trust, altruistic punishment, and fairness. These behaviors have been widely described through non self-interest decision-making in behavioral experimental studies and are thought to be increased by social preference motives. Importantly, recent studies using a combination of neuroimaging and brain stimulation, designed to reveal the neural mechanisms of pro-social behaviors, have found that a wide range of brain areas, specifically the prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and amygdala, are correlated or causally related with pro-social behaviors. In this review, we summarize the research on the neural basis of various kinds of pro-social behaviors and describe a common shared neural circuitry of these pro-social behaviors. We introduce several general ways in which experimental economics and neuroscience can be combined to develop important contributions to understanding social decision-making and pro-social behaviors. Future research should attempt to explore the neural circuitry between the frontal lobes and deeper brain areas.
Validation of the Elementary Social Behavior Assessment: A Measure of Student Prosocial School Behaviors

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Pennefather, Jordan T.; Smolkowski, Keith

2015-01-01

We describe the psychometric evaluation of the "Elementary Social Behavior Assessment" (ESBA™), a 12-item scale measuring teacher-preferred, positive social skills. The ESBA was developed for use in elementary school classrooms to measure teacher perceptions of students using time-efficient, web-based data collection methods that allow…

Consumers’ social media brand behaviors: uncovering underlying motivators and deriving meaningful consumer segments

OpenAIRE

Dimitriu, Radu; Guesalaga Trautmann, Rodrigo

2017-01-01

The current research identifies the range of social media brand behaviors (i.e., brand touch points) that consumers can exhibit on social media, and subsequently queries a representative sample of consumers with regard to such behaviors. The analysis reveals four underlying motivators for consumers’ social media behaviors, including brand tacit engagement, brand exhibiting, brand patronizing and brand deal seeking. These motivators are used to derive meaningful consumer segments identified as...
Long-term oxytocin administration improves social behaviors in a girl with autistic disorder.

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Kosaka, Hirotaka; Munesue, Toshio; Ishitobi, Makoto; Asano, Mizuki; Omori, Masao; Sato, Makoto; Tomoda, Akemi; Wada, Yuji

2012-08-13

Patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) exhibit core autistic symptoms including social impairments from early childhood and mostly show secondary disabilities such as irritability and aggressive behavior based on core symptoms. However, there are still no radical treatments of social impairments in these patients. Oxytocin has been reported to play important roles in multiple social behaviors dependent on social recognition, and has been expected as one of the effective treatments of social impairments of patients with ASDs. We present a case of a 16-year-old girl with autistic disorder who treated by long-term administration of oxytocin nasal spray. Her autistic symptoms were successfully treated by two month administration; the girl's social interactions and social communication began to improve without adverse effects. Her irritability and aggressive behavior also improved dramatically with marked decreases in aberrant behavior checklist scores from 69 to 7. This case is the first to illustrate long-term administration of oxytocin nasal spray in the targeted treatment of social impairments in a female with autistic disorder. This case suggests that long-term nasal oxytocin spray is promising and well-tolerated for treatment of social impairments of patients with ASDs.
Behavioral effects of social challenges and genomic mechanisms of social priming: What's testosterone got to do with it?

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Rosvall, Kimberly A; Peterson, Mark P

2014-12-01

Social challenges from rival conspecifics are common in the lives of animals, and changes in an animal's social environment can influence physiology and behavior in ways that appear to be adaptive in the face of continued social instability (i.e. social priming). Recently, it has become clear that testosterone, long thought to be the primary mediator of these effects, may not always change in response to social challenges, an observation that highlights gaps in our understanding of the proximate mechanisms by which animals respond to their social environment. Here, our goal is to address the degree to which testosterone mediates organismal responses to social cues. To this end, we review the behavioral and physiological consequences of social challenges, as well as their underlying hormonal and gene regulatory mechanisms. We also present a new case study from a wild songbird, the dark-eyed junco ( Junco hyemalis ), in which we find largely divergent genome-wide transcriptional changes induced by social challenges and testosterone, respectively, in muscle and liver tissue. Our review underscores the diversity of mechanisms that link the dynamic social environment with an organisms' genomic, hormonal, and behavioral state. This diversity among species, and even among tissues within an organism, reveals new insights into the pattern and process by which evolution may alter proximate mechanisms of social priming.
A systematic review of social factors and suicidal behavior in older adulthood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fässberg, Madeleine Mellqvist; van Orden, Kimberly A; Duberstein, Paul

2012-01-01

indicated that at least in industrialized countries, limited social connectedness is associated with suicidal ideation, non-fatal suicidal behavior, and suicide in later life. Primary prevention programs designed to enhance social connections as well as a sense of community could potentially decrease......Suicide in later life is a global public health problem. The aim of this review was to conduct a systematic analysis of studies with comparison groups that examined the associations between social factors and suicidal behavior (including ideation, non-fatal suicidal behavior, or deaths) among...... suicide risk, especially among men....
Social Behaviors and Active Videogame Play in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

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Chung, Peter J; Vanderbilt, Douglas L; Soares, Neelkamal S

2015-06-01

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display problematic and excessive videogame play. Using active videogames (AVGs) may have physical benefits, but its effects on socialization are unknown. We conducted an A-B-A' experiment comparing sedentary videogames and AVGs for three dyads of a child with ASD and his sibling. An augmented reality (AR) game was used to introduce AVGs. Sessions were coded for communication, positive affect, and aggression. One dyad had increases in positive affect with AVGs. Otherwise, social behaviors were unchanged or worse. The AR game demonstrated consistent elevations in social behaviors. Use of AVGs has inconsistent effects on social behavior for children with ASD. Further research is needed to understand mediators of response to AVGs. AR games should be evaluated for potential benefits on socialization and positive affect.
Impact of adolescent social experiences on behavior and neural circuits implicated in mental illnesses.

Science.gov (United States)

Burke, Andrew R; McCormick, Cheryl M; Pellis, Sergio M; Lukkes, Jodi L

2017-05-01

Negative social experiences during adolescence are central features for several stress-related mental illnesses. Social play fighting behavior in rats peaks during early adolescence and is essential for the final maturation of brain and behavior. Manipulation of the rat adolescent social experience alters many neurobehavioral measurements implicated in anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. In this review, we will highlight the importance of social play and the use of three separate social stress models (isolation-rearing, social defeat, and social instability stress) to disrupt the acquisition of this adaptive behavior. Social stress during adolescence leads to the development of anxiety and depressive behavior as well as escalated drug use in adulthood. Furthermore, sex- and age-dependent effects on the hormonal stress response following adolescent social stress are also observed. Finally, manipulation of the social experience during adolescence alters stress-related neural circuits and monoaminergic systems. Overall, positive social experiences among age-matched conspecifics during rat adolescence are critical for healthy neurobehavioral maturation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Identifying and Assessing Community-Based Social Behavior of Adolescents and Young Adults with EBD.

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Bullis, Michael; And Others

1994-01-01

A battery of three measures for assessing the community-based social behavior of adolescents and young adults with emotional and behavioral disorders is described. The measures, in male and female forms, are "Test of Community-Based Social Skill Knowledge,""Scale of Community-Based Social Skill Performance," and "Behaviors That Are Undesirable for…
Relationship between Achievement Goals and Students' Self-Reported Personal and Social Responsibility Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Agbuga, Bulent; Xiang, Ping; McBride, Ron E

2015-04-21

This study utilized the 2x2 achievement goal model (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, performance-avoidance goals) to explore the relationships between achievement goals and self-reported personal and social responsibility behaviors in high school physical education settings. Two hundred and twenty one Turkish students completed questionnaires assessing their achievement goals, personal and social responsibility behaviors. Results of the one-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences among the four achievement goals, F(3, 660) = 137.05, p social responsibility (r = .38, p responsibility behaviors, and b = .41, t(216) = 5.23, p social responsibility behaviors. These findings seem to provide convergent evidence that mastery-approach goals are positively related to positive educational outcomes.
Available Supports and Coping Behaviors of Mental Health Social Workers Following Fatal and Nonfatal Client Suicidal Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, Laura; Jacobson, Jodi M.; Sanders, Sara

2008-01-01

Research indicates that mental health social workers risk being confronted with fatal and nonfatal client suicidal behaviors during professional practice. Although reactions to client suicidal behavior have been documented, there is little empirical evidence about coping behaviors and available supports following client suicidal behavior. This…
Iterative perceptual learning for social behavior synthesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Kok, I.A.; Poppe, Ronald Walter; Heylen, Dirk K.J.

We introduce Iterative Perceptual Learning (IPL), a novel approach to learn computational models for social behavior synthesis from corpora of human–human interactions. IPL combines perceptual evaluation with iterative model refinement. Human observers rate the appropriateness of synthesized
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Suicidal Behavior: Indirect Effects of Impaired Social Functioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutton, Courtney E; Rojas, Sasha M; Badour, Christal L; Wanklyn, Sonya G; Feldner, Matthew T

2016-01-01

Social functioning is negatively impacted by the presence of PTSD, while increasing risk of suicidal behavior among individuals with PTSD. However, little research has examined the specific role of social functioning in the association between PTSD and suicidal behavior. Parallel multiple indirect effects analyses were performed to understand the unique indirect effects of four aspects of social functioning. Indirect effects of PTSD on suicidal ideation were significant through three pathways: interpersonal conflict, perceived family support, and interpersonal apprehension. Perceived family support was the only indirect pathway significantly associated with suicide attempt. Findings suggest that social functioning should be assessed and potentially targeted during treatment to help modify the risk for suicidal behavior among individuals with PTSD.
Culture and Social Relationship as Factors of Affecting Communicative Non-verbal Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Akhter Lipi, Afia; Nakano, Yukiko; Rehm, Mathias

The goal of this paper is to link a bridge between social relationship and cultural variation to predict conversants' non-verbal behaviors. This idea serves as a basis of establishing a parameter based socio-cultural model, which determines non-verbal expressive parameters that specify the shapes of agent's nonverbal behaviors in HAI. As the first step, a comparative corpus analysis is done for two cultures in two specific social relationships. Next, by integrating the cultural and social parameters factors with the empirical data from corpus analysis, we establish a model that predicts posture. The predictions from our model successfully demonstrate that both cultural background and social relationship moderate communicative non-verbal behaviors.
Social identity and youth aggressive and delinquent behaviors in a context of political violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Merrilees, Christine E; Cairns, Ed; Taylor, Laura K; Goeke-Morey, Marcie C; Shirlow, Peter; Cummings, E Mark

2013-10-01

The goal of the current study was to examine the moderating role of in-group social identity on relations between youth exposure to sectarian antisocial behavior in the community and aggressive behaviors. Participants included 770 mother-child dyads living in interfaced neighborhoods of Belfast. Youth answered questions about aggressive and delinquent behaviors as well as the extent to which they targeted their behaviors toward members of the other group. Structural equation modeling results show that youth exposure to sectarian antisocial behavior is linked with increases in both general and sectarian aggression and delinquency over one year. Reflecting the positive and negative effects of social identity, in-group social identity moderated this link, strengthening the relationship between exposure to sectarian antisocial behavior in the community and aggression and delinquency towards the out-group. However, social identity weakened the effect for exposure to sectarian antisocial behavior in the community on general aggressive behaviors. Gender differences also emerged; the relation between exposure to sectarian antisocial behavior and sectarian aggression was stronger for boys. The results have implications for understanding the complex role of social identity in inter-group relations for youth in post-accord societies.
Peer Group Socialization of Homophobic Attitudes and Behavior during Adolescence

Science.gov (United States)

Poteat, V. Paul

2007-01-01

A social developmental framework was applied to test for the socialization of homophobic attitudes and behavior within adolescent peer groups (Grades 7-11; aged 12-17 years). Substantial similarity within and differences across groups were documented. Multilevel models identified a group socializing contextual effect, predicting homophobic…
HIV-related social intolerance and risky sexual behavior in a high HIV prevalence environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Delavande, Adeline; Sampaio, Mafalda; Sood, Neeraj

2014-06-01

Although most countries state that fighting social intolerance against persons with HIV is part of their national HIV strategy, the impact of reducing intolerance on risky sexual behavior is largely unknown. In this paper, we estimate the effect of social intolerance against HIV+ persons on risky sexual behavior in rural Malawi using data from roughly 2000 respondents from the 2004 and 2006 waves of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH). The effect of social intolerance on risky behavior is a priori ambiguous. On the one hand, higher social intolerance or stigma can lead people to disassociate from the stigmatized group and hence promote risky behavior. On the other hand, intolerance can be viewed as a social tax on being HIV+ and thus higher intolerance may reduce risky behavior. We find that a decrease in social intolerance is associated with a decrease in risky behavior, including fewer partners and a lower likelihood of having extra-marital relations. This effect is mainly driven by the impact of social intolerance on men. Overall the results suggests that reducing social intolerance might not only benefit the HIV positive but might also forestall the spread of HIV. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ADOLESCENTS WITH BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS: PERSONALITY, QUALITY OF LIFE AND SOCIAL HEALTH CARE

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S. Ya. Volgina

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Deviant behavior of adolescents is a serious social problem in today's society because of the significant prevalence of this phenomenon. Authors present the results of the study of adolescents with behavioral problems. Aim: optimization of medical and social care for adolescents with behavioral problems. Patients and methods: the authors studied the incidence of this condition among children aged from 15 to 17 years using the software package «SOC/PEDIATRIA-2». The features of the personality structure of adolescents with deviant behavior were revealed using the adopted Russian short version of MMPI-MINI-MULT. Demographic and social characteristics of the families of adolescents were assessed. SF-36 questionnaire was applied for the quality of life assessment of the studied category. Results: increasing morbidity among adolescents was revealed due to various reasons: economic, medical and social. The study allowed to develop personal characteristics of the criteria in order to timely identify adolescents with accentuated and psychopathological features. The characteristics of quality of life were used as criteria of health care for adolescents with behavioral problems. The measures for the prevention and correction of deviant behavior among adolescents were proposed, including intersectoral integration and active participation of family in the process of rehabilitation. Conclusions: it is necessary to identify adolescents with deviant behavior timely, followed by a set of measures to provide them with health and social care to protect their health.
Responsive Social Positioning Behaviors for Semi-Autonomous Telepresence Robots

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vroon, Jered Hendrik

2017-01-01

Social interaction with a mobile robot requires the establishment of appropriate social positioning behaviors. Previous work has focused mostly on general and static rules that can be applied to robotics, such as proxemics. How can we deal effectively and efficiently with the dynamic positioning
Categorizing Others and the Self: How Social Memory Structures Guide Social Perception and Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, Kimberly A.; Rosenthal, Harriet E. S.

2012-01-01

In keeping with the special issue theme of "Remembering the Future," this article provides a selective review of research on how memory for social information (i.e., social category representation) influences future processing and behavior. Specifically, the authors focus on how categorization and stereotyping affect how we perceive others and…
Behavioral and social sciences theories and models: are they used in unintentional injury prevention research?

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Trifiletti, L B; Gielen, A C; Sleet, D A; Hopkins, K

2005-06-01

Behavioral and social sciences theories and models have the potential to enhance efforts to reduce unintentional injuries. The authors reviewed the published literature on behavioral and social science theory applications to unintentional injury problems to enumerate and categorize the ways different theories and models are used in injury prevention research. The authors conducted a systematic review to evaluate the published literature from 1980 to 2001 on behavioral and social science theory applications to unintentional injury prevention and control. Electronic database searches in PubMed and PsycINFO identified articles that combined behavioral and social sciences theories and models and injury causes. The authors identified some articles that examined behavioral and social science theories and models and unintentional injury topics, but found that several important theories have never been applied to unintentional injury prevention. Among the articles identified, the PRECEDE PROCEED Model was cited most frequently, followed by the Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior and Health Belief Model. When behavioral and social sciences theories and models were applied to unintentional injury topics, they were most frequently used to guide program design, implementation or develop evaluation measures; few examples of theory testing were found. Results suggest that the use of behavioral and social sciences theories and models in unintentional injury prevention research is only marginally represented in the mainstream, peer-reviewed literature. Both the fields of injury prevention and behavioral and social sciences could benefit from greater collaborative research to enhance behavioral approaches to injury control.
Iterative Perceptual Learning for Social Behavior Synthesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Kok, I.A.; Poppe, Ronald Walter; Heylen, Dirk K.J.

We introduce Iterative Perceptual Learning (IPL), a novel approach for learning computational models for social behavior synthesis from corpora of human-human interactions. The IPL approach combines perceptual evaluation with iterative model refinement. Human observers rate the appropriateness of

Predicting the behavior of techno-social systems.

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Vespignani, Alessandro

2009-07-24

We live in an increasingly interconnected world of techno-social systems, in which infrastructures composed of different technological layers are interoperating within the social component that drives their use and development. Examples are provided by the Internet, the World Wide Web, WiFi communication technologies, and transportation and mobility infrastructures. The multiscale nature and complexity of these networks are crucial features in understanding and managing the networks. The accessibility of new data and the advances in the theory and modeling of complex networks are providing an integrated framework that brings us closer to achieving true predictive power of the behavior of techno-social systems.
Formal Observation of Students' Social Behavior.

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Wood, Frank H.

This module (part of a series of 24 modules) is on teachers' use of systematic observation records of social behavior to aid in assessing students' special needs and in evaluating the effects of specific programs. The genesis of these materials is in the 10 "clusters of capabilities," outlined in the paper, "A Common Body of…
The antiquity and evolutionary history of social behavior in bees.

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Sophie Cardinal

Full Text Available A long-standing controversy in bee social evolution concerns whether highly eusocial behavior has evolved once or twice within the corbiculate Apidae. Corbiculate bees include the highly eusocial honey bees and stingless bees, the primitively eusocial bumble bees, and the predominantly solitary or communal orchid bees. Here we use a model-based approach to reconstruct the evolutionary history of eusociality and date the antiquity of eusocial behavior in apid bees, using a recent molecular phylogeny of the Apidae. We conclude that eusociality evolved once in the common ancestor of the corbiculate Apidae, advanced eusociality evolved independently in the honey and stingless bees, and that eusociality was lost in the orchid bees. Fossil-calibrated divergence time estimates reveal that eusociality first evolved at least 87 Mya (78 to 95 Mya in the corbiculates, much earlier than in other groups of bees with less complex social behavior. These results provide a robust new evolutionary framework for studies of the organization and genetic basis of social behavior in honey bees and their relatives.
The "drinking-buddy" scale as a measure of para-social behavior.

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Powell, Larry; Richmond, Virginia P; Cantrell-Williams, Glenda

2012-06-01

Para-social behavior is a form of quasi-interpersonal behavior that results when audience members develop bonds with media personalities that can resemble interpersonal social interaction, but is not usually applied to political communication. This study tested whether the "Drinking-Buddy" Scale, a simple question frequently used in political communication, could be interpreted as a single-item measure of para-social behavior with respect to political candidates in terms of image judgments related to interpersonal attraction and perceived similarity to self. The participants were college students who had voted in the 2008 election. They rated the candidates, Obama or McCain, as drinking buddies and then rated the candidates' perceived similarity to themselves in attitude and background, and also the social and task attraction to the candidate. If the drinking-buddy rating serves as a proxy measure for para-social behavior, then it was expected that participants' ratings for all four kinds of similarity to and attraction toward a candidate would be higher for the candidate they chose as a drinking buddy. The directional hypotheses were supported for interpersonal attraction, but not for perceived similarity. These results indicate that the drinking-buddy scale predicts ratings of interpersonal attraction, while voters may view perceived similarity as an important but not essential factor in their candidate preference.
Organic consumption behavior : A social identification perspective

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Du, Shuili; Bartels, Jos; Reinders, Machiel; Sen, Sankar

2017-01-01

Consumer demand for organic food and non-food products has been growing dramatically. This study examines organic consumption behavior from a social identification perspective. Focusing on the central role of organic consumer identification (OCI), or the extent to which individuals categorize
Using a social story intervention to decrease inappropriate behavior of preschool children with autism

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Angkhana Khantreejitranon

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This research investigated the inappropriate behavior of preschool children with autism in a classroom and examined the effectiveness of the use of social stories to decrease inappropriate autistic behavior. An A-B-A-B single subject design was used across the five participants selected for the study. Investigating the problematic social skills and developing a social story intervention for the preschool autistic children was completed, followed by an examination of the effectiveness of the social story intervention. Ten common problematic social skills among the autistic children in preschool were identified—walking around, making loud noises, not sharing their toys with others, showing frustration when feeling unsatisfied, having no patience, not putting toys away when finished, taking other people's belongings without permission, not knowing how to greet others, destroying things when feeling frustrated, and giving a hug to other people at inappropriate times. It was found that the social story intervention helped to decrease inappropriate behavior in children with autism. The social story intervention consisted of five social story books and five e-books (one story per child using a single subject design with an A-B-A-B pattern. The autistic children preferred social stories from the hardcopy books compared with stories from the e-books. A fourth stage time trial was used over 6 weeks, five times per week, for a total of 30 times. The findings suggested that the use of properly constructed social stories can be effective in decreasing the inappropriate behavior of children with autism. However, each story intervention should be applied with caution because of individual differences between children. The social story intervention should be designed only for autistic children who exhibit specific inappropriate social behavior. Keywords: autistic child, inappropriate behavior, social skills, social story
Characterizing social behavior, activity, and associations between cognition and behavior upon social grouping of weaned dairy calves.

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Horvath, K C; Miller-Cushon, E K

2018-05-09

Weaned dairy calves are commonly exposed to changing physical and social environments, and ability to adapt to novel management is likely to have performance and welfare implications. We characterized how behavioral responses of weaned heifer calves develop over time after introduction to a social group. Previously individually reared Holstein heifer calves (n = 15; 60 ± 5 d of age; mean ± standard deviation) were introduced in weekly cohorts (5 ± 3 new calves/wk) to an existing group on pasture (8 ± 2 calves/group). We measured activity and behavior on the day of initial introduction and after 1 wk, when calves were exposed to regrouping (addition of younger calves and removal of older calves from the pen). Upon introduction, calves had 2 to 3 times more visits to each region of the pasture; they also spent more time at the back of the pasture, closest to where they were introduced and furthest from the feeding area (25.13 vs. 9.63% of observation period, standard error = 5.04), compared with behavior after 1 wk. Calves also spent less time feeding (5.0 vs. 9.6% of observation period, standard error = 0.82) and self-grooming (0.52 vs. 1.31% of observation period; standard error = 0.20) and more time within 1 to 3 body lengths of another calf (16.3 vs. 11.9% of observation period, standard error = 2.3) when initially grouped. We also explored whether behavioral responses to initial postweaning grouping might be associated with individual differences in behavioral flexibility. To evaluate this, we assessed cognition of individually housed calves (n = 18) at 5 wk of age using a spatial discrimination task conducted in a T-maze to measure initial learning (ability to learn the location of a milk reward) and reversal learning (ability to relearn location of the milk reward when it was switched to opposite arm of the maze). Calves were categorized by reversal learning success (passed, n = 6, or failed, n = 8). Calves that passed the reversal learning stage of the
Interaction Effect of Social Isolation and High Dose Corticosteroid on Neurogenesis and Emotional Behavior.

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Chan, Jackie N-M; Lee, Jada C-D; Lee, Sylvia S P; Hui, Katy K Y; Chan, Alan H L; Fung, Timothy K-H; Sánchez-Vidaña, Dalinda I; Lau, Benson W-M; Ngai, Shirley P-C

2017-01-01

Hypercortisolemia is one of the clinical features found in depressed patients. This clinical feature has been mimicked in animal studies via application of exogenous corticosterone (CORT). Previous studies suggested that CORT can induce behavioral disturbance in anxious-depressive like behavior, which is associated with suppressed neurogenesis. Hippocampal neurogenesis plays an important role in adult cognitive and behavioral regulation. Its suppression may thus lead to neuropsychiatric disorders. Similar to the effects of CORT on the animals' depression-like behaviors and neurogenesis, social deprivation has been regarded as one factor that predicts poor prognosis in depression. Furthermore, social isolation is regarded as a stressor to social animals including experimental rodents. Hence, this study aims to examine if social isolation would induce further emotional or anxiety-like behavior disturbance and suppress neurogenesis in an experimental model that was repeatedly treated with CORT. Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study to determine the effects of different housing conditions, either social isolated or group housing, in vehicle-treated control and CORT-treated animals. Forced swimming test (FST), open field test (OFT) and social interaction test (SIT) were used to assess depression-like, anxiety-like and social behaviors respectively. Immunohistochemistry was performed to quantify the number of proliferative cells and immature neurons in the hippocampus, while dendritic maturation of immature neurons was analyzed by Sholl analysis. Social isolation reduced latency to immobility in FST. Furthermore, social isolation could significantly reduce the ratio of doublecortin and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) positive cells of the neurogenesis assay under CORT-treated condition. The current findings suggested that the behavioral and neurological effect of social isolation is dependent on the condition of hypercortisolemia. Furthermore, social isolation may
Understanding work-related social media use: An extension of theory of planned behavior.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Zoonen, W.; Verhoeven, J.W.M.; Elving, W.J.L.

2014-01-01

This study examines the motives of employees to engage in work related social media use - i.e. the use of personal social media accounts to communicate about work-related issues. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to explain this behavior. Because social media can enable users to express
Taming Big Data: Using App Technology to Study Organizational Behavior on Social Media

Science.gov (United States)

Bail, Christopher A.

2017-01-01

Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter provide an unprecedented amount of qualitative data about organizations and collective behavior. Yet these new data sources lack critical information about the broader social context of collective behavior--or protect it behind strict privacy barriers. In this article, I introduce social media…
Increasing Social Behaviors in Young Children with Social-Communication Delays in a Group Arrangement in Preschool

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Lane, Justin D.; Gast, David L.; Ledford, Jennifer R.; Shepley, Collin

2017-01-01

Young children with disabilities are less likely to display age-appropriate social behaviors than same-age peers with typical social development, especially children who display social-communication delays. In this study, two concurrently operating single case designs were used to evaluate the use of progressive time delay (PTD) to teach children…
Behavioral analysis of use personal service e-balance Indonesian social security

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Gunawan; Fitriani, Novi; Nurul Fajar, Ahmad

2017-09-01

Indonesian Social Security is the one of the government agencies that is trusted to organize social security. With help of Information technology that growing these day, Indonesian Social Security is also developing E-Balance application, where previously all activities for checking balance is done by giving their slip details through the nearest branch to be distributed to each company. So far there is no research that reviewing e-Balance. Hence, the authors is interested to do research related factors that influence the behavior of the use of E-Balance Indonesian Social Security in the Jakarta area and model that can describe those factors Authors distributing questioners to 193 respondents and perform data processing. The result of this study is to know the factors that influence the behavior of use Personal Service E-Balance Indonesian Social Security and model that can describe those factors. The result shows that UTAUT 2 model is not match with this research and need to be enhanced. After enhancement, there are 3 factors that being significant. Such as Behavioral Intention, Effort Expectancy and Social Influence while the others are not supported and need to be customize.
Social vocalizations of big brown bats vary with behavioral context.

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Marie A Gadziola

Full Text Available Bats are among the most gregarious and vocal mammals, with some species demonstrating a diverse repertoire of syllables under a variety of behavioral contexts. Despite extensive characterization of big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus biosonar signals, there have been no detailed studies of adult social vocalizations. We recorded and analyzed social vocalizations and associated behaviors of captive big brown bats under four behavioral contexts: low aggression, medium aggression, high aggression, and appeasement. Even limited to these contexts, big brown bats possess a rich repertoire of social vocalizations, with 18 distinct syllable types automatically classified using a spectrogram cross-correlation procedure. For each behavioral context, we describe vocalizations in terms of syllable acoustics, temporal emission patterns, and typical syllable sequences. Emotion-related acoustic cues are evident within the call structure by context-specific syllable types or variations in the temporal emission pattern. We designed a paradigm that could evoke aggressive vocalizations while monitoring heart rate as an objective measure of internal physiological state. Changes in the magnitude and duration of elevated heart rate scaled to the level of evoked aggression, confirming the behavioral state classifications assessed by vocalizations and behavioral displays. These results reveal a complex acoustic communication system among big brown bats in which acoustic cues and call structure signal the emotional state of a caller.
Influence of Social Stress on Risk-Taking Behavior in Adolescents

OpenAIRE

Reynolds, Elizabeth K.; Schreiber, Whitney M.; Geisel, Kathy; MacPherson, Laura; Ernst, Monique; Lejuez, C. W.

2013-01-01

Risk-taking behavior involves making choices with uncertain positive or negative outcomes. Evidence suggests that risk-taking behavior is influenced by emotional state. One such emotional experience is social anxiety, which has been related to both risk-avoidant and risk-seeking decision making. The present study examined a community sample of 34 adolescents grouped into low (Low SA Group) and high (High SA Group) social anxiety (SA). Both groups were compared on changes in performance on a r...
The social impacts of the energy shortage, behavioral and attitude shifts

Science.gov (United States)

1975-09-01

An analysis of the social impacts of the energy shortage; specifically, an : analysis of shifts in social behavior, or trip-making characteristics, and : shifts in social attitudes towards the energy shortage and conservation policies, : Data were ob...
The Behavioral and Social Sciences: Contributions and Opportunities in Academic Medicine.

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Smith, Patrick O; Grigsby, R Kevin

2017-06-01

The Association of American Medical Colleges plays a leading role in supporting the expansion and evolution of academic medicine and medical science in North America, which are undergoing high-velocity change. Behavioral and social science concepts have great practical value when applied to the leadership practices and administrative structures that guide and support the rapid evolution of academic medicine and medical sciences. The authors are two behavioral and social science professionals who serve as academic administrators in academic medical centers. They outline their career development and describe the many ways activities have been shaped by their work with the Association of American Medical Colleges. Behavioral and social science professionals are encouraged to become change agents in the ongoing transformation of academic medicine.
Cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of social phobia

Science.gov (United States)

Priyamvada, Richa; Kumari, Sapna; Prakash, Jai; Chaudhury, Suprakash

2009-01-01

Cognitive behavior therapy is probably the most well-known and the most practiced form of modern psychotherapy and has been integrated into highly structured package for the treatment of patients suffering from social phobia. The present case study is an attempt to provide therapeutic intervention program to a 27-year-old, unmarried Christian man suffering from social phobia. The patient was treated by using cognitive behavioral techniques. After 17 sessions of therapeutic intervention program, significant improvement was found. He was under follow-up for a period of 6 months and recovered to the premorbid level of functioning. PMID:21234166
Neuroanatomical Substrates of Rodent Social Behavior: The Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Its Projection Patterns

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Ko, Jaewon

2017-01-01

Social behavior encompasses a number of distinctive and complex constructs that form the core elements of human imitative culture, mainly represented as either affiliative or antagonistic interactions with conspecifics. Traditionally considered in the realm of psychology, social behavior research has benefited from recent advancements in neuroscience that have accelerated identification of the neural systems, circuits, causative genes and molecular mechanisms that underlie distinct social cognitive traits. In this review article, I summarize recent findings regarding the neuroanatomical substrates of key social behaviors, focusing on results from experiments conducted in rodent models. In particular, I will review the role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and downstream subcortical structures in controlling social behavior, and discuss pertinent future research perspectives. PMID:28659766
The effects of neonatal amygdala or hippocampus lesions on adult social behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Bliss-Moreau, Eliza; Moadab, Gilda; Santistevan, Anthony; Amaral, David G

2017-03-30

The present report details the final phase of a longitudinal evaluation of the social behavior in a cohort of adult rhesus monkeys that received bilateral neurotoxic lesions of the amygdala or hippocampus, or sham operations at 2 weeks of age. Results were compared to previous studies in which adult animals received amygdala lesions and were tested in a similar fashion. Social testing with four novel interaction partners occurred when the animals were between 7 and 8 years of age. Experimental animals interacted with two male and two female partners in two conditions - one in which physical access was restricted (the constrained social access condition) and a second in which physical access was unrestricted (the unconstrained social access condition). Across conditions and interaction partners, there were no significant effects of lesion condition on the frequency or duration of social interactions. As a group, the hippocampus-lesioned animals generated the greatest number of communicative signals during the constrained social access condition. Amygdala-lesioned animals generated more frequent stress-related behaviors and were less exploratory. Amygdala and hippocampus-lesioned animals demonstrated greater numbers of stereotypies than control animals. Subtle, lesion-based differences in the sequencing of behaviors were observed. These findings suggest that alterations of adult social behavior are much less prominent when damage to the amygdala occurs early in life rather than in adulthood. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Heightened activity in social reward networks is associated with adolescents’ risky sexual behaviors

OpenAIRE

Kristen L. Eckstrand; Sophia Choukas-Bradley; Arpita Mohanty; Marissa Cross; Nicholas B. Allen; Jennifer S. Silk; Neil P. Jones; Erika E. Forbes

2017-01-01

Adolescent sexual risk behavior can lead to serious health consequences, yet few investigations have addressed its neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Social neurocircuitry is postulated to underlie the development of risky sexual behavior, and response to social reward may be especially relevant. Typically developing adolescents (N = 47; 18M, 29F; 16.3 ± 1.4 years; 42.5% sexual intercourse experience) completed a social reward fMRI task and reported their sexual risk behaviors (e.g., lifetime sex...

Social Desirability Responding in the Measurement of Assertive Behavior.

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Kiecolt, Janice; McGrath, Ellen

1979-01-01

Women completed behavioral measures of assertion and anxiety before and after assertiveness training. High social desirability scorers described themselves as more assertive and less anxious, but were behaviorally less assertive than low scorers. Although all scorers improved their assertion skills, high scorers did not appear less anxious after…
Growth and social behavior in a cichlid fish are affected by social rearing environment and kinship

Science.gov (United States)

Hesse, Saskia; Thünken, Timo

2014-04-01

Living in groups is a widespread phenomenon in many animal taxa. The reduction of predation risk is thought to be an important cause for the formation of groups. Consequently, grouping behavior is particularly pronounced during vulnerable life stages, i.e., as juveniles. However, group living does not only provide benefits but also imposes costs on group members, e.g., increased competition for food. Thus, benefits of grouping behavior might not be evident when predation risk is absent. The adaptive significance of living and also developing in a group independent from predation risk has received relatively little attention although this might have important implications on the evolution and maintenance of group living. The first aim of the present study was to examine whether the social environment affects juvenile performance in the cichlid fish Pelvicachromis taeniatus and, secondly, whether kinship affects social behavior. Kin selection theory predicts benefits from grouping with kin. Here, we demonstrate that juveniles reared in a group grow on average faster compared to juveniles reared in isolation under standardized laboratory conditions without predation risk. Furthermore, we found significant differences in social behavior between juveniles reared in a group and reared in isolation. Fish reared in isolation were significantly more aggressive and less willing to shoal than group-reared fish. As expected, genetic relatedness influenced social behavior in group-reared fish as well: dyads of juveniles consisting of kin showed increased group cohesiveness compared to non-kin dyads. We discuss the potential benefits of group living in general and living with kin in particular.
A Large Scale Test of the Effect of Social Class on Prosocial Behavior.

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Korndörfer, Martin; Egloff, Boris; Schmukle, Stefan C

2015-01-01

Does being from a higher social class lead a person to engage in more or less prosocial behavior? Psychological research has recently provided support for a negative effect of social class on prosocial behavior. However, research outside the field of psychology has mainly found evidence for positive or u-shaped relations. In the present research, we therefore thoroughly examined the effect of social class on prosocial behavior. Moreover, we analyzed whether this effect was moderated by the kind of observed prosocial behavior, the observed country, and the measure of social class. Across eight studies with large and representative international samples, we predominantly found positive effects of social class on prosociality: Higher class individuals were more likely to make a charitable donation and contribute a higher percentage of their family income to charity (32,090 ≥ N ≥ 3,957; Studies 1-3), were more likely to volunteer (37,136 ≥N ≥ 3,964; Studies 4-6), were more helpful (N = 3,902; Study 7), and were more trusting and trustworthy in an economic game when interacting with a stranger (N = 1,421; Study 8) than lower social class individuals. Although the effects of social class varied somewhat across the kinds of prosocial behavior, countries, and measures of social class, under no condition did we find the negative effect that would have been expected on the basis of previous results reported in the psychological literature. Possible explanations for this divergence and implications are discussed.
Eating Behavior and Social Interactions from Adolescence to Adulthood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Corrado, Luisa; Distante, Roberta

This paper analyzes the importance of social ties for eating behavior of US youth. We propose a novel approach that addresses identi…cation of social endogenous e¤ects. We overcome the problem of measuring the separate impact of endogenous and contextual e¤ects on individual Body Mass Index (BMI...
Reconceptualizing Social Work Behaviors from a Human Rights Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Steen, Julie A.

2018-01-01

Although the human rights philosophy has relevance for many segments of the social work curriculum, the latest version of accreditation standards only includes a few behaviors specific to human rights. This deficit can be remedied by incorporating innovations found in the social work literature, which provides a wealth of material for…
Promoting Physical Activity through Priming the Content of Motivation

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Tom St Quinton

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Non-conscious processes are important in influencing the performance of a number of behaviors, such as physical activity. One way that such processes can be influenced is through priming. Despite this, approaches within health psychology have predominantly focused on reflective processes with a number of psychological theories dedicated to identifying the predictors of intention. In doing so, critical beliefs and thoughts are first identified and then altered within interventions. Such work has shown limited effectiveness, however, with a gap apparent between what one intends to do and what subsequently ensues. Although there have been attempts to bridge this gap, such as theoretical integration, recent efforts include priming implicit processes. The aim of this commentary is to demonstrate the potential effectiveness of priming non-conscious processes and to suggest that the content of motivation should also succumb to priming influences. This brief review suggests that priming one of the most influential conscious processes, that of self-efficacy, could demonstrate particular effectiveness in promoting physical activity. Thus, the main purpose of the article is to suggest that the content of implicit processes as well their more traditional conscious counterparts may provide useful intervention targets. To achieve this, the article will first introduce the role of non-conscious processes and behavioral priming. Following this, the more common reflective processes will be outlined as well as attempts at theoretical integration. Finally, the article will identify studies priming non-conscious processes and will then suggest priming self-efficacy.
From childhood adversity to problem behaviors: Role of psychological and structural social integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, Lo-Hsin; Tsai, Meng-Che; Liang, Ya-Lun; Strong, Carol; Lin, Chung-Ying

2018-01-01

Childhood adversity (CA) is associated with problem behaviors in adolescence, but the mediators, that is, those factors that help build resilience and prevent some children who experience CA from engaging in problem behaviors, await more exploration, including social integration. The aim of this study was to identify the association between CA and adolescent problem behaviors, and to further examine the mediating role of social integration distinctly as psychological and structural integration. Data used were from the Taiwan Education Panel Survey, a core panel of 4,261 students (age 13) surveyed in 2001 and followed for three more waves until age 18. For psychological integration, an average score was calculated to represent adolescents' feelings about their school. Structural integration was constructed using several items about adolescents' school and extracurricular activities. We used structural equation modeling with the diagonally weighted least squares method to examine the effect of CA on the primary outcome: adolescent problem behaviors via social integration. The hypothesized structural equation model specifying the path from CA to adolescent problem behavior had good fit. Respondents with one CA were indirectly linked to problem behaviors via psychological but not structural integration (e.g. the level of participation in school and non-school activities). On mediation analysis, psychological integration significantly mediated the paths from one CA to all six problem behaviors (all P integration; two or more CA were not associated with significant paths to problem behaviors. The contribution of social integration is crucial to an adolescent's development from CA to problem behaviors. To form supportive social relationships to achieve better health, we suggest that those adolescents who have been exposed to CA should be helped to join more teams and take part in more activities, thereby increasing their opportunities for social interaction, and improving
Genomic Analysis of Genotype-by-Social Environment Interaction for Drosophila melanogaster Aggressive Behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rohde, Palle Duun; Gartner, Bryn; Ward, Kirsty

2017-01-01

Human psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder often include adverse behaviors including increased aggressiveness. Individuals with psychiatric disorders often exhibit social withdrawal, which can further increase the probability...... of conducting a violent act. Here, we used the inbred, sequenced lines of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) to investigate the genetic basis of variation inmale aggressive behavior for flies reared in a socialized and socially isolated environment. We identified genetic variation for aggressive...... behavior, as well as significant genotype-by-social environ- mental interaction (GSEI); i.e., variation among DGRP genotypes in the degree to which social isolation affected aggression. We performed genome-wide association (GWA) analyses to identify genetic variants associated with aggression within each...
Anxiety and Social Stress Related to Adolescent Gambling Behavior and Substance Use

Science.gov (United States)

Ste-Marie, Chantal; Gupta, Rina; Derevensky, Jeffrey L.

2006-01-01

The relationship between anxiety, social stress, substance use, and gambling behavior was examined in a sample of 1,044 high school students from grades 7-11. Adolescents completed several instruments assessing their state, trait, and generalized anxiety, social stress, substance use, and gambling behavior. Results reveal that probable…
Impact of social isolation on behavioral health in elderly: Systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Hanbyul; Irwin, Michael R; Cho, Hyong Jin

2015-12-22

To examine and compare the effects of subjective and objective social isolation on behavioral health in elderly adults. A systematic search of PubMed was performed for original research articles from peer-reviewed journals examining one of the following topics: "Social isolation and sleep disturbance", "social isolation and depression", or "social isolation and fatigue in older adults". Studies were selected following the criteria established based on the aim of this review. Data were extracted from the articles by two independent reviewers. Due to the heterogeneity in study designs and outcome measures of the included studies, qualitative and narrative analyses were conducted. The set criteria were used to select a total of 16 studies for the review. Of the 16, 13 were cross-sectional studies. The characteristics of study populations were identified as follows. A total of 12 studies randomly selected subjects irrespective of pre-existing health conditions. Consequently, an unspecified number of the study subjects had chronic diseases in the studies compared. In addition, cultural and ethnic backgrounds of studies in this review were diverse, and included subjects living in North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Both subjective and objective types of social isolation increased behavioral symptoms, such as sleep disturbance, depressive symptoms, and fatigue in older adults. Furthermore, a few recent studies reported stronger effects of subjective social isolation than objective social isolation on sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms. Social isolation affects behavioral health in older adults. Compared to the objective social isolation, subjective social isolation contributes more significantly to sleep disturbance and depression.
Sex-specific effects of dietary fatty acids on saliva cortisol and social behavior in guinea pigs under different social environmental conditions.

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Nemeth, Matthias; Millesi, Eva; Puehringer-Sturmayr, Verena; Kaplan, Arthur; Wagner, Karl-Heinz; Quint, Ruth; Wallner, Bernard

2016-01-01

Unbalanced dietary intakes of saturated (SFAs) and polyunsaturated (PUFAs) fatty acids can profoundly influence the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis and glucocorticoid secretions in relation to behavioral performances. The beneficial effects of higher dietary PUFA intakes and PUFA:SFA ratios may also affect social interactions and social-living per se, where adequate physiological and behavioral responses are essential to cope with unstable social environmental conditions. Effects of diets high in PUFAs or SFAs and a control diet were investigated in male and female guinea pigs after 60 days of supplementation. Plasma fatty acid patterns served as an indicator of the general fatty acid status. HPA-axis activities, determined by measuring saliva cortisol concentrations, social behaviors, and hierarchy ranks were analyzed during group housing of established single-sexed groups and during challenging social confrontations with unfamiliar individuals of the other groups. The plasma PUFA:SFA ratio was highest in PUFA supplemented animals, with female levels significantly exceeding males, and lowest in SFA animals. SFA males and females showed increased saliva cortisol levels and decreased aggressiveness during group housing, while sociopositive behaviors were lowest in PUFA males. Males generally showed higher cortisol increases in response to the challenging social confrontations with unfamiliar individuals than females. While increasing cortisol concentrations were detected in control and PUFA animals, no such effect was found in SFA animals. During social confrontations, PUFA males showed higher levels of agonistic and sociopositive behaviors and also gained higher dominance ranks among males, which was not detected for females. While SFAs seemingly impaired cortisol responses and social behaviors, PUFAs enabled adequate behavioral responses in male individuals under stressful new social environmental conditions. This sex-specific effect was possibly
A review of the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale for Healthy Behaviors.

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Cullum, Kristiana G H; Mayo, Ann M

2015-01-01

Assessing an instrument's psychometric properties to determine appropriateness for use can be a challenging process. Dissecting the statistical terminology may be even more perplexing. There are several instruments that evaluate adolescents' perceived social support, but a fairly new instrument related to this construct assesses not only the availability of social support but also support for healthy behaviors in this population. The Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale for Healthy Behaviors, first published in 2013, demonstrates adequate initial reliability and validity. The purpose of this article is to review the psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale for Healthy Behaviors and potential uses of the instrument.
Social influences on adolescents' dietary behavior in Catalonia, Spain: A qualitative multiple-cases study from the perspective of social capital.

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Carrillo-Álvarez, Elena; Riera-Romaní, Jordi; Canet-Vélez, Olga

2018-04-01

Adolescence has been referred to as the last best chance to prevent adult non-communicable diseases. Gaining further evidence on the psychosocial determinants of health behaviors, particularly the impact of peers, social networks and media on diet, is necessary to develop appropriate preventive strategies. Based on a multiple-cases study, our aim was to discuss the social influences on adolescents' dietary behavior from a social capital perspective. Participants were reached through four high-schools in different Catalan rural-urban and socioeconomic contexts. Our results confirm the different layout of social capital in the community, school, peers and family. In our sample, family and peers are the most influent sources of social capital in relation to dietary behaviors, inducing both protective and damaging effects. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effects of Social Housing on Hippocampal Dendrites and Behavior in Ovariectomized Rats

OpenAIRE

Leedy, Gail M.; Burrows, Lorraine F.; Clark, Suzanne

2012-01-01

Social stress is both species and gender specific. For female rats, individual housing and social instability housing conditions are associated with behavioral indicators of stress and depression. The present study directly compared the effects of six weeks of individual housing, social instability and mixed sex, semi-crowded housing in a visible burrow system (VBS) on ovariectomized female rats. Paired, stable housing was used as the control. Behavioral tests were conducted two, four and six...
role of altruistic behavior, empathetic concern, and social responsibility motivation in blood donation behavior.

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Steele, Whitney Randolph; Schreiber, George B; Guiltinan, Anne; Nass, Catharie; Glynn, Simone A; Wright, David J; Kessler, Debra; Schlumpf, Karen S; Tu, Yongling; Smith, James W; Garratty, George

2008-01-01

Blood donation can be described as a prosocial behavior, and donors often cite prosocial reasons such as altruism, empathy, or social responsibility for their willingness to donate. Previous studies have not quantitatively evaluated these characteristics in donors or examined how they relate to donation frequency. As part of a donor motivation study, 12,064 current and lapsed donors answered questions used to create an altruistic behavior, empathetic concern, and social responsibility motivation score for each donor. Analysis of variance was used to compare mean scores by demographics and donor status and to determine the influence of each variable on the mean number of donations in the past 5 years. The mean score for each prosocial characteristic appeared high, with lower scores in male and younger donors. Higher altruistic behavior and social responsibility motivation scores were associated with increased past donation frequency, but the effects were minor. Empathetic concern was not associated with prior donation. The largest differences in prior donations were by age and donor status, with older and current donors having given more frequently. Most blood donors appear to have high levels of the primary prosocial characteristics (altruism, empathy, and social responsibility) commonly thought to be the main motivators for donation, but these factors do not appear to be the ones most strongly related to donation frequency. Traditional donor appeals based on these characteristics may need to be supplemented by approaches that address practical concerns like convenience, community safety, or personal benefit.
Association Between Parental Social Interaction and Behavior Problems in Offspring: a Population-Based Study in Japan.

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Ochi, Manami; Fujiwara, Takeo

2016-08-01

Research in parental social support has chiefly examined received social support. Studies have suggested that provided social support may also be protective for child mental health problems. We aim to investigate the association between parental social interaction (both received and provided social support) and offspring behavior problems. We analyzed the data of 982 households, including 1538 children aged 4 to 16 years, from the Japanese Study of Stratification, Health, Income, and Neighborhood (J-SHINE) survey conducted over 2010-2011. We used a 5-point Likert scale to assess social interaction including parental emotional and instrumental support received from and provided to the spouse, other co-residing family members, non-co-residing family members or relatives, neighbors, and friends. Behavior problems in offspring were assessed using parental responses to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Associations between parental social interaction and behavior problems were analyzed using ordered logistic regression. We found that higher maternal social interaction is significantly associated with lower odds of both difficult and prosocial behavior problems, while the same associations were not found for paternal social interaction. Further, maternal provided social support showed an independent negative association with prosocial behavior problems in offspring, even when adjusted for received maternal social support and paternal social interaction. This study showed that maternal social interaction, but not paternal social interaction, might have a protective effect on offspring behavior problems. Further study is required to investigate the effect of the intervention to increase social participation among mothers whose children have behavior problems.
The Spreading of Social Energy: How Exposure to Positive and Negative Social News Affects Behavior.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ziqing Yao

Full Text Available Social news, unlike video games or TV programs, conveys real-life interactions. Theoretically, social news in which people help or harm each other and violate rules should influence both prosocial and violation behaviors. In two experiments, we demonstrated the spreading effects of social news in a social interaction context emphasizing social conventions and a nonsocial interaction context emphasizing moral norms. Across the two studies, the results showed that positive social news increased cooperation (decreased defection but had no effect on cheating, whereas negative social news increased cheating but with no change in cooperation (or defection. We conclude that there is a spreading impact of positive social news in the conventional norm domain and of negative social news in the moral norm domain.
The Spreading of Social Energy: How Exposure to Positive and Negative Social News Affects Behavior.

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Yao, Ziqing; Yu, Rongjun

2016-01-01

Social news, unlike video games or TV programs, conveys real-life interactions. Theoretically, social news in which people help or harm each other and violate rules should influence both prosocial and violation behaviors. In two experiments, we demonstrated the spreading effects of social news in a social interaction context emphasizing social conventions and a nonsocial interaction context emphasizing moral norms. Across the two studies, the results showed that positive social news increased cooperation (decreased defection) but had no effect on cheating, whereas negative social news increased cheating but with no change in cooperation (or defection). We conclude that there is a spreading impact of positive social news in the conventional norm domain and of negative social news in the moral norm domain.
Mapping the Social World of Classrooms: A Multi-Level, Multi-Reporter Approach to Social Processes and Behavioral Engagement.

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Kim, Ha Yeon; Cappella, Elise

2016-03-01

Understanding the social context of classrooms has been a central goal of research focused on the promotion of academic development. Building on the current literature on classroom social settings and guided by a risk and protection framework, this study examines the unique and combined contribution of individual relationships and quality of classroom interactions on behavioral engagement among low-income Latino students in kindergarten to fifth grade (N = 111). Findings indicate that individual relationships with teachers and peers and classroom quality, each independently predicted behavioral engagement. Moreover, high-quality classrooms buffered the negative influence of students' difficulties in individual relationships on behavioral engagement. Findings illuminate the need to consider multiple layers of social classroom relationships and interactions and suggest the potential benefit of targeting classroom quality as a mechanism for improving behavioral engagement in urban elementary schools. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.
Job stress and family social behavior: the moderating role of neuroticism.

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Wang, Shu-wen; Repetti, Rena L; Campos, Belinda

2011-10-01

We investigated the role of neuroticism in the associations between job stress and working adults' social behavior during the first hour after work with their spouse and school-age children. Thirty dual-earner families were videotaped in their homes on two weekday afternoons and evenings. An observational coding system was developed to assess behavioral involvement and negative emotion expression. Participants also completed self-report measures of job stressors and trait neuroticism. There were few overall associations between job stress and social behavior during the first hour adults were at home with their spouse and school-age children. However, significant moderator effects indicated that linkages between work experiences and family behavior varied for men who reported different levels of trait neuroticism, which captures a dispositional tendency toward emotional instability. Among men who reported high neuroticism, job stress was linked to more active and more negative social behavior. Conversely, for men reporting low neuroticism, job stress was related to less talking and less negative emotion. These patterns were not found for the women in the study. The findings suggest that when work is stressful, men who are higher on neuroticism (i.e., less emotionally stable) may show a negative spillover effect, whereas men who are lower on neuroticism (i.e., more emotionally stable) may withdraw from social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

How Oral Contraceptives Impact Social-Emotional Behavior and Brain Function.

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Montoya, Estrella R; Bos, Peter A

2017-02-01

Millions of women worldwide use oral contraceptives ('the pill'; OCs), often starting at a pubertal age when their brains are in a crucial developmental stage. Research into the social-emotional effects of OCs is of utmost importance. In this review, we provide an overview of studies that have emerged over the past decade investigating how OCs, and their main ingredients estradiol (E) and progesterone (P), influence social-emotional behaviors and underlying brain functions. Based on this overview, we present a heuristic model that postulates that OCs modulate core social-emotional behaviors and brain systems. Research domains and challenges for the future, as well as implications, are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Socialization and organizational citizenship behavior among Turkish primary and secondary school teachers.

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Çavuş, Mustafa Fedai

2012-01-01

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of organizational socialization levels of employees on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). A total of 185 (70 female, 115 male) teachers were sampled at 27 primary and secondary schools. Their ages ranged from 23 to 55 years, with a mean (SD) of 36 (5.1). In this sample, 100 (54.1%) worked in primary schools, and 85 (45.9%) worked in secondary schools. A three-part questionnaire was designed for the study. The research scales were self-report measures of organizational socialization, OCB, and demographic variables. The hypothesized model was tested using Pearson correlation analyses and multiple regression analyses. The teachers demonstrated high level socialization (Mean 4.2, SD 0.7) and OCB (Mean 4.0, SD 0.54). Understanding, coworker support, and performance proficiency explained significant variance in organizational citizenship behavior; however, there was no relationship (p=0.286) between the organizational goals and values and OCB. The findings contribute to our understanding of the relationship between the level of organizational socialization and organizational citizenship behavior in educational settings. These findings suggest that high level organizational socialization supports organizational citizenship behavior in primary and secondary school teachers.
Little behaviors with big impacts: Exploring the sense of community surrounding socially conscious consumption

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Devincenzo, Marie E. Hafey

The thesis is a study of socially conscious consumption practices and the meanings those behaviors have for consumers who participate in them. Psychological sense of community was used as the theoretical grounding for the study because it provided a way to examine socially conscious behaviors not solely as the behaviors of individuals but as behaviors within a social context with social meaning. Data were collected in two phases. First, a written, projective instrument compared cultural perceptions of various types of socially conscious consumption practices. Then, in-depth interviews were conducted to collect consumption narratives from participants and nonparticipants in a wind energy program called Blue Sky. The interviews were analyzed using a hermeneutical approach. The findings identified a new type of consumption community not recognized in prior literature: the principle based consumption community.
The dominance behavioral system and manic temperament: Motivation for dominance, self-perceptions of power, and socially dominant behaviors

OpenAIRE

Johnson, Sheri L.; Carver, Charles S.

2012-01-01

The dominance behavioral system has been conceptualized as a biologically based system comprising motivation to achieve social power and self-perceptions of power. Biological, behavioral, and social correlates of dominance motivation and self-perceived power have been related to a range of psychopathological tendencies. Preliminary evidence suggests that mania and risk for mania (manic temperament) relate to the dominance system.
Reciprocal Relations between Student-Teacher Conflict, Children's Social Skills and Externalizing Behavior

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Skalická, Vera; Stenseng, Frode; Wichstrøm, Lars

2015-01-01

Research suggests that the relation between student-teacher conflict and children's externalizing behavior might be reciprocal, and possibly also between student-teacher conflict and children's social skills. Because children with externalizing behavior also tend to display low levels of social skills, we do not know if one or both of these…
Sex Behaviors as Social Cues Motivating Social Venue Patronage Among Young Black Men Who Have Sex with Men.

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Young, Lindsay E; Michaels, Stuart; Jonas, Adam; Khanna, Aditya S; Skaathun, Britt; Morgan, Ethan; Schneider, John A

2017-10-01

HIV prevention programs often focus on the physical social venues where men who have sex with men (MSM) frequent as sites where sex behaviors are assumed to be practiced and risk is conferred. But, how exactly these behaviors influence venue patronage is not well understood. In this study, we present a two-mode network analysis that determines the extent that three types of sex behaviors-condomless sex, sex-drug use, and group sex-influence the patronage of different types of social venues among a population sample of young Black MSM (YBMSM) (N = 623). A network analytic technique called exponential random graph modeling was used in a proof of concept analysis to verify how each sex behavior increases the likelihood of a venue patronage tie when estimated as either: (1) an attribute of an individual only and/or (2) a shared attribute between an individual and his peers. Findings reveal that sex behaviors, when modeled only as attributes possessed by focal individuals, were no more or less likely to affect choices to visit social venues. However, when the sex behaviors of peers were also taken into consideration, we learn that individuals were statistically more likely in all three behavioral conditions to go places that attracted other MSM who practiced the same behaviors. This demonstrates that social venues can function as intermediary contexts in which relationships can form between individuals that have greater risk potential given the venues attraction to people who share the same risk tendencies. As such, structuring interventions around these settings can be an effective way to capture the attention of YBMSM and engage them in HIV prevention.
Mothers' Socialization Goals, Mothers' Emotion Socialization Behaviors, Child Emotion Regulation, and Child Socioemotional Functioning in Urban India

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Raval, Vaishali V.; Raval, Pratiksha H.; Deo, Neeraj

2014-01-01

Studies examining the link between parental socialization and child functioning in varying cultural contexts are scarce. Focusing on early adolescents in suburban middle-class families in India, the present study examined interrelations among reports of mothers' socialization goals, socialization behaviors in response to child emotion, child…
Social Environmental Correlates of Health Behaviors in a Faith-Based Policy and Environmental Change Intervention.

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Hermstad, April; Honeycutt, Sally; Flemming, Shauna StClair; Carvalho, Michelle L; Hodge, Tarccara; Escoffery, Cam; Kegler, Michelle C; Arriola, Kimberly R Jacob

2018-03-01

Diet and physical activity are behavioral risk factors for many chronic diseases, which are among the most common health conditions in the United States. Yet most Americans fall short of meeting established dietary and physical activity guidelines. Faith-based organizations as settings for health promotion interventions can affect members at multiple levels of the social ecological model. The present study investigated whether change in the church social environment was associated with healthier behavior at church and in general at 1-year follow-up. Six churches received mini-grants and technical assistance for 1 year to support policy and environmental changes for healthy eating (HE) and physical activity (PA). Socioenvironmental (social support and social norms) and behavioral (HE and PA at church and in general) outcomes were derived from baseline and 1-year follow-up church member surveys ( n = 258). Three of six churches demonstrated significant improvements in all three socioenvironmental aspects of HE. Two of five churches exhibited significant socioenvironmental improvements for PA at follow-up. Church social environmental changes were related to health behaviors at church and in general ( p Change in social support for HE, social support for PA, and social norms for PA were each associated with three church-based and general behavioral outcomes. Social norms for healthy eating were related to two general behavior outcomes and social norms for unhealthy eating to one general behavioral outcome. Study findings demonstrate that socioenvironmental characteristics are essential to multilevel interventions and merit consideration in designing policy and environmental change interventions.
Social network characteristics associated with health promoting behaviors among Latinos.

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Marquez, Becky; Elder, John P; Arredondo, Elva M; Madanat, Hala; Ji, Ming; Ayala, Guadalupe X

2014-06-01

This study examined the relationship between social network characteristics and health promoting behaviors (having a routine medical check-up, consuming no alcohol, consuming no fast food, and meeting recommendations for leisure-time physical activity and sleep duration) among Latinos to identify potential targets for behavioral interventions. Personal network characteristics and health behavior data were collected from a community sample of 393 adult Latinos (73% women) in San Diego County, California. Network characteristics consisted of size and composition. Network size was calculated by the number of alters listed on a name generator questionnaire eliciting people with whom respondents discussed personal issues. Network composition variables were the proportion of Latinos, Spanish-speakers, females, family, and friends listed in the name generator. Additional network composition variables included marital status and the number of adults or children in the household. Network members were predominately Latinos (95%), Spanish-speakers (80%), females (64%), and family (55%). In multivariate logistic regression analyses, gender moderated the relationship between network composition, but not size, and a health behavior. Married women were more likely to have had a routine medical check-up than married men. For both men and women, having a larger network was associated with meeting the recommendation for leisure-time physical activity. Few social network characteristics were significantly associated with health promoting behaviors, suggesting a need to examine other aspects of social relationships that may influence health behaviors. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.
Dysfunction of serotoninergic and dopaminergic neuronal systems in the antidepressant-resistant impairment of social behaviors induced by social defeat stress exposure as juveniles.

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Hasegawa, Sho; Miyake, Yuriko; Yoshimi, Akira; Mouri, Akihiro; Hida, Hirotake; Yamada, Kiyofumi; Ozaki, Norio; Nabeshima, Toshitaka; Noda, Yukihiro

2018-03-29

Extensive studies have been performed on the role of monoaminergic neuronal systems in rodents exposed to social defeat stress as adults. In the present study, we investigated the role of monoaminergic neuronal systems in the impairment of social behaviors induced by social defeat stress exposure as juveniles. Juvenile, male C57BL/6J mice were exposed to social defeat stress for 10 consecutive days. From 1 day after the last stress exposure, desipramine, sertraline, and aripiprazole, were administered for 15 days. Social behaviors were assessed at 1 and 15 days after the last stress exposure. Monoamine turnover was determined in specific regions of the brain in the mice exposed to the stress. Stress exposure as juveniles induced the impairment of social behaviors in adolescent mice. In mice that showed the impairment of social behaviors, turnover of the serotonin and dopamine, but not noradrenaline was decreased in specific brain regions. Acute and repeated administration of desipramine, sertraline, and aripiprazole failed to attenuate the impairment of social behaviors, whereas repeated administration of a combination of sertraline and aripiprazole showed additive attenuating effects. These findings suggest that social defeat stress exposure as juveniles induces the treatment-resistant impairment of social behaviors in adolescents through dysfunction in the serotoninergic and dopaminergic neuronal systems. The combination of sertraline and aripiprazole may be used as a new treatment strategy for treatment-resistant stress-related psychiatric disorders in adolescents with adverse juvenile experiences.
SOCIAL STABILITY AND HIV RISK BEHAVIOR: EVALUATING THE ROLE OF ACCUMULATED VULNERABILITY

Science.gov (United States)

German, Danielle; Latkin, Carl A.

2011-01-01

This study evaluated a cumulative and syndromic relationship among commonly co-occurring vulnerabilites (homelessness, incarceration, low-income, residential transition) in association with HIV-related risk behaviors among 635 low-income women in Baltimore. Analysis included descriptive statistics, logistic regression, latent class analysis and latent class regression. Both methods of assessing multidimensional instability showed significant associations with risk indicators. Risk of multiple partners, sex exchange, and drug use decreased significantly with each additional domain. Higher stability class membership (77%) was associated with decreased likelihood of multiple partners, exchange partners, recent drug use, and recent STI. Multidimensional social vulnerabilities were cumulatively and synergistically linked to HIV risk behavior. Independent instability measures may miss important contextual determinants of risk. Social stability offers a useful framework to understand the synergy of social vulnerabilities that shape sexual risk behavior. Social policies and programs aiming to enhance housing and overall social stability are likely to be beneficial for HIV prevention. PMID:21259043
Attitude Ambivalence, Social Norms, and Behavioral Intentions: Developing Effective Antitobacco Persuasive Communications

Science.gov (United States)

Hohman, Zachary P.; Crano, William D.; Niedbala, Elizabeth M.

2018-01-01

This study assessed the moderating effects of attitude ambivalence on the relationship between social norms, attitudes, and behavioral intentions to use tobacco. It was predicted that people would use social norms to reduce attitude ambivalence, and that reduced ambivalence would lead to changes in attitudes and behavioral intentions. To test this hypothesis, participants (N =152) were exposed to persuasive communications designed to influence attitude ambivalence and perceived social norms regarding tobacco use. Analysis indicated that providing a social norm antagonistic to tobacco use significantly reduced ambivalence among participants reading the ambivalence message (p changes in tobacco attitudes from pre- to postpersuasive communications demonstrated a significant decrease in tobacco attitudes only for participants reading the ambivalence message who were provided with the antitobacco use norm (p changes in attitudes toward tobacco. These results point to the important role of social norms in mediating the effects of attitude ambivalence on subsequent behavior in preventative programs targeting tobacco use. PMID:26460476
Attitude ambivalence, social norms, and behavioral intentions: Developing effective antitobacco persuasive communications.

Science.gov (United States)

Hohman, Zachary P; Crano, William D; Niedbala, Elizabeth M

2016-03-01

This study assessed the moderating effects of attitude ambivalence on the relationship between social norms, attitudes, and behavioral intentions to use tobacco. It was predicted that people would use social norms to reduce attitude ambivalence, and that reduced ambivalence would lead to changes in attitudes and behavioral intentions. To test this hypothesis, participants (N = 152) were exposed to persuasive communications designed to influence attitude ambivalence and perceived social norms regarding tobacco use. Analysis indicated that providing a social norm antagonistic to tobacco use significantly reduced ambivalence among participants reading the ambivalence message (p attitudes from pre- to postpersuasive communications demonstrated a significant decrease in tobacco attitudes only for participants reading the ambivalence message who were provided with the antitobacco use norm (p attitudes toward tobacco. These results point to the important role of social norms in mediating the effects of attitude ambivalence on subsequent behavior in preventative programs targeting tobacco use. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
Teacher characteristics, social classroom relationships, and children's social, emotional, and behavioral classroom adjustment in special education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Breeman, L.D.; Wubbels, T.; van Lier, P.A.C.; Verhulst, F.C.; van der Ende, J.; Maras, A.; Hopman, J.A.B.; Tick, N.T.

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was to explore relations between teacher characteristics (i.e., competence and wellbeing); social classroom relationships (i.e., teacher-child and peer interactions); and children's social, emotional, and behavioral classroom adjustment. These relations were explored at both
Teacher characteristics, social classroom relationships, and children's social, emotional, and behavioral classroom adjustment in special education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Breeman, L.D.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/390776114; Wubbels, T.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/070651361; van Lier, P.A.C.; Verhulst, F.C.; van der Ende, J.; Maras, A.; Hopman, J.A.B.; Tick, Nouchka|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/298678012

The goal of this study was to explore relations between teacher characteristics (i.e., competence and wellbeing); social classroom relationships (i.e., teacher–child and peer interactions); and children's social, emotional, and behavioral classroom adjustment. These relations were explored at both
Social anxiety symptoms and drinking behaviors among college students: the mediating effects of drinking motives.

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Villarosa, Margo C; Madson, Michael B; Zeigler-Hill, Virgil; Noble, Jeremy J; Mohn, Richard S

2014-09-01

The impact of social anxiety on negative alcohol-related behaviors among college students has been studied extensively. Drinking motives are considered the most proximal indicator of college student drinking behavior. The current study examined the mediating role of drinking motives in the relationship that social anxiety symptoms have with problematic (alcohol consumption, harmful drinking, and negative consequences) and safe (protective behavioral strategies) drinking behaviors. Participants were 532 undergraduates who completed measures of social anxiety, drinking motives, alcohol use, harmful drinking patterns, negative consequences of alcohol use, and protective behavioral strategy use. Our results show that students with higher levels of social anxiety symptoms who were drinking for enhancement motives reported more harmful drinking and negative consequences, and used fewer protective behavioral strategies. Thus, students who were drinking to increase their positive mood were participating in more problematic drinking patterns compared with students reporting fewer social anxiety symptoms. Further, conformity motives partially mediated the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and negative consequences. Thus, students with more symptoms of social anxiety who were drinking in order to be accepted by their peers were more likely than others to experience negative consequences. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
Global brain dynamics during social exclusion predict subsequent behavioral conformity.

Science.gov (United States)

Wasylyshyn, Nick; Hemenway Falk, Brett; Garcia, Javier O; Cascio, Christopher N; O'Donnell, Matthew Brook; Bingham, C Raymond; Simons-Morton, Bruce; Vettel, Jean M; Falk, Emily B

2018-02-01

Individuals react differently to social experiences; for example, people who are more sensitive to negative social experiences, such as being excluded, may be more likely to adapt their behavior to fit in with others. We examined whether functional brain connectivity during social exclusion in the fMRI scanner can be used to predict subsequent conformity to peer norms. Adolescent males (n = 57) completed a two-part study on teen driving risk: a social exclusion task (Cyberball) during an fMRI session and a subsequent driving simulator session in which they drove alone and in the presence of a peer who expressed risk-averse or risk-accepting driving norms. We computed the difference in functional connectivity between social exclusion and social inclusion from each node in the brain to nodes in two brain networks, one previously associated with mentalizing (medial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, precuneus, temporal poles) and another with social pain (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula). Using predictive modeling, this measure of global connectivity during exclusion predicted the extent of conformity to peer pressure during driving in the subsequent experimental session. These findings extend our understanding of how global neural dynamics guide social behavior, revealing functional network activity that captures individual differences.
Social Behavior of Pet Dogs Is Associated with Peripheral OXTR Methylation.

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Cimarelli, Giulia; Virányi, Zsófia; Turcsán, Borbála; Rónai, Zsolt; Sasvári-Székely, Mária; Bánlaki, Zsófia

2017-01-01

Oxytocin is a key modulator of emotional processing and social cognitive function. In line with this, polymorphisms of genes involved in oxytocin signaling, like the oxytocin receptor ( OXTR ) gene, are known to influence social behavior in various species. However, to date, no study has investigated environmental factors possibly influencing the epigenetic variation of the OXTR gene and its behavioral effects in dogs. Pet dogs form individualized and strong relationships with their owners who are central figures in the social environment of their dogs and therefore might influence the methylation levels of their OXTR gene. Here we set out to investigate whether DNA methylation within the OXTR promoter region of pet dogs is linked to their owner's interaction style and to the social behavior of the dogs. To be able to do so, we collected buccal epithelial cells and, in Study 1, we used pyrosequencing techniques to look for differentially methylated CpG sites in the canine OXTR promoter region on a heterogeneous sample of dogs and wolves of different ages and keeping conditions. Four identified sites (at positions -727, -751, -1371, and -1383 from transcription start site) showing more than 10% methylation variation were then, in Study 2, measured in triplicate in 217 pet Border Collies previously tested for reactions to an adverse social situation (i.e., approach by a threatening human) and with available data on their owners' interaction styles. We found that CpG methylation was significantly associated with the behavior of the dogs, in particular with the likelihood that dogs would hide behind their owner or remain passive when approached by a threatening human. On the other hand, CpG methylation was not related to the owners' behavior but to dog sex (at position -1371). Our findings underpin the complex relationship between epigenetics and behavior and highlight the importance of including epigenetic methods in the analysis of dog behavioral development. Further
Assessment of the Prosocial Behaviors of Young Children with Regard to Social Development, Social Skills, Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Peer Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Gulay, Hulya

2011-01-01

The aim of the study was prosocial behaviors of 5-6 years old children were investigated with regard to parental acceptance-rejection, peer relationships, general social development and social skills. The participants of the study included 277 5-6-year-old Turkish children and their parents. The Child Behavior Scale, Social Skills Form, Marmara…
A Large Scale Test of the Effect of Social Class on Prosocial Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Korndörfer, Martin; Egloff, Boris; Schmukle, Stefan C.

2015-01-01

Does being from a higher social class lead a person to engage in more or less prosocial behavior? Psychological research has recently provided support for a negative effect of social class on prosocial behavior. However, research outside the field of psychology has mainly found evidence for positive or u-shaped relations. In the present research, we therefore thoroughly examined the effect of social class on prosocial behavior. Moreover, we analyzed whether this effect was moderated by the kind of observed prosocial behavior, the observed country, and the measure of social class. Across eight studies with large and representative international samples, we predominantly found positive effects of social class on prosociality: Higher class individuals were more likely to make a charitable donation and contribute a higher percentage of their family income to charity (32,090 ≥ N ≥ 3,957; Studies 1–3), were more likely to volunteer (37,136 ≥N ≥ 3,964; Studies 4–6), were more helpful (N = 3,902; Study 7), and were more trusting and trustworthy in an economic game when interacting with a stranger (N = 1,421; Study 8) than lower social class individuals. Although the effects of social class varied somewhat across the kinds of prosocial behavior, countries, and measures of social class, under no condition did we find the negative effect that would have been expected on the basis of previous results reported in the psychological literature. Possible explanations for this divergence and implications are discussed. PMID:26193099

Social stimuli cause changes of plasma oxytocin and behavior in guinea pigs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BERNARD WALLNER

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT is a key factor in the initiation and regulation of sociosexual behavior. The present study analyzes the effects of cohabitation and social challenge on plasma OXT concentration rates in guinea pig pairs in relation to male sociosexual behavior. The cohabitation phase lasted 3 days. On day 4, the pair was socially challenged by introducing an unfamiliar male. Displayed male sexual behavior varied significantly during cohabitation, with peaks on day 1. Sociopositive behavior, i.e., side-by-side contact, was increased on days 3 and 4. Cohabitation per se led to elevated plasma OXT concentrations only in males. In contrast, both sexes reacted with increased plasma OXT concentrations to the social challenge (day 4. At that time, male OXT was significantly correlated with sexual behavior and female OXT with sociosexual behavior received from the partner. Additionally, pairs were synchronized in their OXT release during days 3 and 4. We conclude that cohabitation causes sexually dimorphic plasma OXT concentration patterns in guinea pigs. Secondly, the conformity of OXT release in both sexes may represent an endocrine marker for long-term cohabitation, which is reflected behaviorally by increased spatial proximity
On the interaction between drugs of abuse and adolescent social behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trezza, V.; Baarendse, P.J.J.; Vanderschuren, L.J.M.J.

2014-01-01

Rationale Social factors influence drug abuse. Conversely, drugs of abuse alter social behavior. This is especially pertinent during post-weaning development, when there are profound changes in the social repertoire, and the sensitivity to the positive and negative effects of drugs of abuse is
Investigation of user behavior on social networking sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Waheed, Hajra; Anjum, Maria; Rehman, Mariam; Khawaja, Amina

2017-01-01

Social networking sites (SNS) are used for social and professional interaction with people. SNS popularity has encouraged researchers to analyze the relationship of activities performed on SNS with user behavior. In doing so, the term "user behavior" is rather used ambiguously with different interpretations, which makes it difficult to identify studies on user behavior in relation to SNS. This phenomenon has encouraged this thorough research on the characteristics of user behavior being discussed in the literature. Therefore, in this study, we aim to identify, analyze, and classify the characteristics associated with user behavior to answer the research questions designed to conduct this research. A mapping study (also called scoping study), which is a type of systematic literature review, is employed to identify potential studies from digital databases through a developed protocol. Thematic analysis is carried out for the classification of user behavior. We identified 116 primary studies for full analysis. This study found seven characteristics associated with behavior that have direct influence on SNS use and nine factors that have an indirect effect. All studies were conducted largely under seven areas that set the context of these studies. Findings show that the research on SNS is still in its early stage. The range of topics covered in the analyzed studies is quite expansive, although the depth in terms of number of studies under each topic is quite limited. This study reports that activities performed on SNS are either associated with user behavior or reflect personality characteristics. The findings of this study could be used by practitioners to evaluate their SNS platforms and develop more user-centered applications. These studies can also help organizations to understand better the needs of their employees.
Investigation of user behavior on social networking sites.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hajra Waheed

Full Text Available Social networking sites (SNS are used for social and professional interaction with people. SNS popularity has encouraged researchers to analyze the relationship of activities performed on SNS with user behavior. In doing so, the term "user behavior" is rather used ambiguously with different interpretations, which makes it difficult to identify studies on user behavior in relation to SNS. This phenomenon has encouraged this thorough research on the characteristics of user behavior being discussed in the literature. Therefore, in this study, we aim to identify, analyze, and classify the characteristics associated with user behavior to answer the research questions designed to conduct this research. A mapping study (also called scoping study, which is a type of systematic literature review, is employed to identify potential studies from digital databases through a developed protocol. Thematic analysis is carried out for the classification of user behavior. We identified 116 primary studies for full analysis. This study found seven characteristics associated with behavior that have direct influence on SNS use and nine factors that have an indirect effect. All studies were conducted largely under seven areas that set the context of these studies. Findings show that the research on SNS is still in its early stage. The range of topics covered in the analyzed studies is quite expansive, although the depth in terms of number of studies under each topic is quite limited. This study reports that activities performed on SNS are either associated with user behavior or reflect personality characteristics. The findings of this study could be used by practitioners to evaluate their SNS platforms and develop more user-centered applications. These studies can also help organizations to understand better the needs of their employees.
76 FR 65219 - Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-20

... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences..., Behavioral and Economic Sciences ( 1171) Date/Time: November 3, 2011; 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. November 4, 2011; 8..., Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard...
Social integration, psychological distress, and smoking behaviors in a midwest LGBT community.

Science.gov (United States)

Sivadon, Angela; Matthews, Alicia K; David, Kevin M

2014-01-01

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations have smoking rates twice that of their heterosexual counterparts. To design effective outreach, prevention, and treatments for these individuals, a comprehensive understanding of associated factors is needed. To increase understanding of how social integration and psychological distress are related to smoking behaviors among LGBT populations. A cross-sectional, descriptive study of 135 LGBT adults using an online data collection strategy. Multivariate analyses were performed to examine factors associated with current smoking status. Social integration was not significantly related to smoking behaviors in this LGBT population, although psychological distress was higher among smokers than nonsmokers. Although social support has been reported to have an impact on health behaviors in the general population, the present findings suggest that the benefits of social support may not apply to the smoking activities of LGBT individuals. © The Author(s) 2014.
A Lesson on Social Role Theory: An Example of Human Behavior in the Social Environment Theory

OpenAIRE

Agnes M. Dulin

2007-01-01

This paper discusses the social role theory, a theory of Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE). Relevance of this topic is briefly discussed, as well as a definition of the theory and its historical background. Empirical research that employs this theory will be discussed.Recommendations will be made for future theory development and implications for social work education will conclude the discussion.
The Effectiveness of Social Skills Training on Reducing Autistic Children's Behavioral Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Tahan

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of social skills training on reducing the behavioral problems of children with autism and pseudo-experimental. The statistical population of all autistic children is Mashhad. In this research, a goal-based sampling method is used. 30 children were selected from among children with autism and randomly assigned to two experimental groups (15 people and control (n = 15. The Shelli & Sorkab Communication Skills Questionnaire (2004 and Rutter's Behavioral Disorder (1964 Then, independent variable, ie social skills training (ten sessions 60 minutes, was performed on the experimental group, while no intervention was performed on the control group. After collecting data, the data were analyzed using covariance analysis. The results showed that social skills training has a positive and significant effect on reducing the behavioral problems of communication skills improvement in autistic children. Conclusion: Social skills training is a suitable method for reducing behavioral problems and improving communication skills in autistic children. These results can be used by psychologists and counselors.
Establishing a Relationship between Behavior Change Theory and Social Marketing: Implications for Health Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Thackeray, Rosemary; Neiger, Brad L.

2000-01-01

Describes relationships between behavior change theory and social marketing practice, noting challenges in making behavior change theory an important component of social marketing and proposing that social marketing is the framework to which theory can be applied, creating theory-driven, consumer-focused, more effective health education programs.…
Exploring the Connections between Caring and Social Behaviors in Physical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Gano-Overway, Lori A.

2013-01-01

Purpose: This study explored the relationship between the caring climate, empathy, prosocial behaviors, and antisocial behaviors, like bullying, in physical education, plus investigated whether empathy mediated the possible relationships between caring and social behaviors for boys and girls. Method: Middle school physical education students…
77 FR 25207 - Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-27

... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences..., Behavioral and Economic Sciences ( 1171). Date/Time: May 17, 2012; 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; May 18, 2012; 8:30..., Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard...
75 FR 25886 - Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-10

... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences..., Behavioral, and Economic Sciences ( 1171). Date/Time: May 20, 2010; 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. May 21, 2010; 8:30..., Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard...
78 FR 25309 - Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-30

... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ADVISORY Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic..., Behavioral and Economic Sciences ( 1171) Date/Time: May 20, 2013; 9:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. May 21, 2013; 9:00 a..., Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard...
76 FR 24062 - Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences; Notice of Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-29

... NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences..., Behavioral and Economic Sciences ( 1171) Date/Time: May 19, 2011; 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. May 20, 2011; 9 a.m. to..., Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard...
Social Fingerprinting: detection of spambot groups through DNA-inspired behavioral modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cresci, Stefano; Di Pietro, Roberto; Petrocchi, Marinella

2017-01-01

Spambot detection in online social networks is a long-lasting challenge involving the study and design of detection techniques capable of efficiently identifying ever-evolving spammers. Recently, a new wave of social spambots has emerged, with advanced human-like characteristics that allow them...... to go undetected even by current state-of-the-art algorithms. In this paper, we show that efficient spambots detection can be achieved via an in-depth analysis of their collective behaviors exploiting the digital DNA technique for modeling the behaviors of social network users. Inspired by its...... biological counterpart, in the digital DNA representation the behavioral lifetime of a digital account is encoded in a sequence of characters. Then, we define a similarity measure for such digital DNA sequences. We build upon digital DNA and the similarity between groups of users to characterize both genuine...
Admiration regulates social hierarchy: Antecedents, dispositions, and effects on intergroup behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Sweetman, Joseph; Spears, Russell; Livingstone, Andrew G; Manstead, Antony S R

2013-05-01

In four studies, we report evidence that admiration affects intergroup behaviors that regulate social hierarchy. We demonstrate that manipulating the legitimacy of status relations affects admiration for the dominant and that this emotion negatively predicts political action tendencies aimed at social change. In addition, we show that greater warmth and competence lead to greater admiration for an outgroup, which in turn positively predicts deferential behavior and intergroup learning. We also demonstrate that, for those with a disposition to feel admiration, increasing admiration for an outgroup decreases willingness to take political action against that outgroup. Finally, we show that when the object of admiration is a subversive "martyr," admiration positively predicts political action tendencies and behavior aimed at challenging the status quo. These findings provide the first evidence for the important role of admiration in regulating social hierarchy.
Preventing Behavioral Disorders via Supporting Social and Emotional Competence at Preschool Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Schell, Annika; Albers, Lucia; von Kries, Rüdiger; Hillenbrand, Clemens; Hennemann, Thomas

2015-09-25

13-18% of all preschool children have severe behavioral problems at least transiently, sometimes with long-term adverse consequences. In this study, the social training program "Lubo aus dem All! - Vorschulalter" (Lubo from Outer Space, Preschool Version) was evaluated in a kindergarten setting. 15 kindergartens were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group, in a 2:1 ratio. The intervention was designed to strengthen emotional knowledge and regulation, the ability to take another person's point of view, communication skills, and social problem solving. The control group continued with conventional kindergarten activities. The primary endpoint was improvement in social-cognitive problem solving strategies, as assessed with the Wally Social Skills and Problem Solving Game (Wally). Secondary endpoints were improvement in prosocial behavior and reduction in problematic behavior, as assessed with the Preschool Social Behavior Questionnaire (PSBQ) and the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF). Data were collected before and after the intervention and also 5 months later. Mixed models were calculated with random effects to take account of the cluster design and for adjustment for confounding variables. 221 children in kindergarten, aged 5-6 years, were included in the study. Randomization was unsuccessful: the children in the intervention group performed markedly worse on the tests carried out before the intervention. Five months after the end of the intervention, the social-cognitive problem solving strategies of the children in the intervention group had improved more than those of the children in the control group: the intergroup difference in improvement was 0.79 standard deviations of the Wally test (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.13-1.46). This effect was just as marked 5 months later (0.63, 95% CI 0.03-1.23). Prosocial behavior, as measured by the PSBQ, also improved more in the intervention group, with an intergroup difference of 0
Concurrent Bursty Behavior of Social Sensors in Sporting Events

Science.gov (United States)

Takeichi, Yuki; Sasahara, Kazutoshi; Suzuki, Reiji; Arita, Takaya

2015-01-01

The advent of social media expands our ability to transmit information and connect with others instantly, which enables us to behave as “social sensors.” Here, we studied concurrent bursty behavior of Twitter users during major sporting events to determine their function as social sensors. We show that the degree of concurrent bursts in tweets (posts) and retweets (re-posts) works as a strong indicator of winning or losing a game. More specifically, our simple tweet analysis of Japanese professional baseball games in 2013 revealed that social sensors can immediately react to positive and negative events through bursts of tweets, but that positive events are more likely to induce a subsequent burst of retweets. We confirm that these findings also hold true for tweets related to Major League Baseball games in 2015. Furthermore, we demonstrate active interactions among social sensors by constructing retweet networks during a baseball game. The resulting networks commonly exhibited user clusters depending on the baseball team, with a scale-free connectedness that is indicative of a substantial difference in user popularity as an information source. While previous studies have mainly focused on bursts of tweets as a simple indicator of a real-world event, the temporal correlation between tweets and retweets implies unique aspects of social sensors, offering new insights into human behavior in a highly connected world. PMID:26659028
Promoting social behavior with oxytocin in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Andari, Elissar; Duhamel, Jean-René; Zalla, Tiziana; Herbrecht, Evelyn; Leboyer, Marion; Sirigu, Angela

2010-03-02

Social adaptation requires specific cognitive and emotional competences. Individuals with high-functioning autism or with Asperger syndrome cannot understand or engage in social situations despite preserved intellectual abilities. Recently, it has been suggested that oxytocin, a hormone known to promote mother-infant bonds, may be implicated in the social deficit of autism. We investigated the behavioral effects of oxytocin in 13 subjects with autism. In a simulated ball game where participants interacted with fictitious partners, we found that after oxytocin inhalation, patients exhibited stronger interactions with the most socially cooperative partner and reported enhanced feelings of trust and preference. Also, during free viewing of pictures of faces, oxytocin selectively increased patients' gazing time on the socially informative region of the face, namely the eyes. Thus, under oxytocin, patients respond more strongly to others and exhibit more appropriate social behavior and affect, suggesting a therapeutic potential of oxytocin through its action on a core dimension of autism.
Essays on the social dimensions of investor behavior

OpenAIRE

Hoffmann, Arvid Oskar Ivar

2007-01-01

Traditional finance theories assume that investors only evaluate risk and expected returns when making investment decisions. More recent behavioral finance theories, however, argue that for many investors there is more to investing than only evaluating risk and returns. Examples hereof are investors who only invest in domestic companies or companies that operate in a social responsible way. This thesis examines the (personal) needs and behavior of individual investors in The Netherlands and c...

"Bien Educado": Measuring the Social Behaviors of Mexican American Children

Science.gov (United States)

Bridges, Margaret; Cohen, Shana R.; McGuire, Leah Walker; Yamada, Hiro; Fuller, Bruce; Mireles, Laurie; Scott, Lyn

2012-01-01

Young children's expected social behaviors develop within particular cultural contexts and contribute to their academic experience in large part through their relationships with their teachers. Commonly used measures focus on children's problem behaviors, developed from psychopathology traditions, and rarely situate normative and positive…
Identifying Meaningful Behaviors for Social Competence: A Contextual Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Warnes, Emily D.; Sheridan, Susan M.; Geske, Jenenne; Warnes, William A.

An exploratory study was conducted which assessed behaviors that characterize social competence in the 2nd and 5th grades. A contextual approach was used to gather information from 2nd and 5th grade children and their parents and teachers regarding the behaviors they perceived to be important for getting along well with peers. Data were gathered…
Genetic dissection of pheromone processing reveals main olfactory system-mediated social behaviors in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuo, Tomohiko; Hattori, Tatsuya; Asaba, Akari; Inoue, Naokazu; Kanomata, Nobuhiro; Kikusui, Takefumi; Kobayakawa, Reiko; Kobayakawa, Ko

2015-01-20

Most mammals have two major olfactory subsystems: the main olfactory system (MOS) and vomeronasal system (VNS). It is now widely accepted that the range of pheromones that control social behaviors are processed by both the VNS and the MOS. However, the functional contributions of each subsystem in social behavior remain unclear. To genetically dissociate the MOS and VNS functions, we established two conditional knockout mouse lines that led to either loss-of-function in the entire MOS or in the dorsal MOS. Mice with whole-MOS loss-of-function displayed severe defects in active sniffing and poor survival through the neonatal period. In contrast, when loss-of-function was confined to the dorsal MOB, sniffing behavior, pheromone recognition, and VNS activity were maintained. However, defects in a wide spectrum of social behaviors were observed: attraction to female urine and the accompanying ultrasonic vocalizations, chemoinvestigatory preference, aggression, maternal behaviors, and risk-assessment behaviors in response to an alarm pheromone. Functional dissociation of pheromone detection and pheromonal induction of behaviors showed the anterior olfactory nucleus (AON)-regulated social behaviors downstream from the MOS. Lesion analysis and neural activation mapping showed pheromonal activation in multiple amygdaloid and hypothalamic nuclei, important regions for the expression of social behavior, was dependent on MOS and AON functions. Identification of the MOS-AON-mediated pheromone pathway may provide insights into pheromone signaling in animals that do not possess a functional VNS, including humans.
Empirical Analysis on Factors Affecting User Behavior in Social Commerce

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xu Jiayi

2017-02-01

Full Text Available [Purpose/significance] This paper aims to discover the factors affecting user behavior in the derivative situation of e-commerce, social commerce, and explore the sustainable development and related marketing advice of it. [Method/process］This paper put forward a theoretical model of factors affecting user behavior in social commerce by integrating emotional state impact into the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R framework. 277 valid samples were collected by questionnaires and PLS. [Result/conclusion］The results show that information quality and tie strength significantly affect user emotional states, while emotional states positively affect user behavior. In addition, graphic features of business information have indirect effects on user emotional states, while it has direct effect on purchase intention.
A Contextual Approach to the Assessment of Social Skills: Identifying Meaningful Behaviors for Social Competence

Science.gov (United States)

Warnes, Emily D.; Sheridan, Susan M.; Geske, Jenenne; Warnes, William A.

2005-01-01

An exploratory study was conducted which assessed behaviors that characterize social competence in the second and fifth grades. A contextual approach was used to gather information from second- and fifth-grade children and their parents and teachers regarding the behaviors they perceived to be important for getting along well with peers. Data were…
Human Social Culture Behavior Modeling Program Newsletter. Volume 1. Issue 1, Spring 2009

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-30

the social psychol- ogy of consumer behavior . A key theory in this space is the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), which hypothesizes the re...useful in predicting a range of consumer behavior , including the effectiveness of anti-smoking cam- paigns and weight loss programs—each of which...Priester, J.R. (2002). The social psychology of consumer behavior . Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (1980
A Neurobehavioral Mechanism Linking Behaviorally Inhibited Temperament and Later Adolescent Social Anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

Buzzell, George A; Troller-Renfree, Sonya V; Barker, Tyson V; Bowman, Lindsay C; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Henderson, Heather A; Kagan, Jerome; Pine, Daniel S; Fox, Nathan A

2017-12-01

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament identified in early childhood that is a risk factor for later social anxiety. However, mechanisms underlying the development of social anxiety remain unclear. To better understand the emergence of social anxiety, longitudinal studies investigating changes at behavioral neural levels are needed. BI was assessed in the laboratory at 2 and 3 years of age (N = 268). Children returned at 12 years, and an electroencephalogram was recorded while children performed a flanker task under 2 conditions: once while believing they were being observed by peers and once while not being observed. This methodology isolated changes in error monitoring (error-related negativity) and behavior (post-error reaction time slowing) as a function of social context. At 12 years, current social anxiety symptoms and lifetime diagnoses of social anxiety were obtained. Childhood BI prospectively predicted social-specific error-related negativity increases and social anxiety symptoms in adolescence; these symptoms directly related to clinical diagnoses. Serial mediation analysis showed that social error-related negativity changes explained relations between BI and social anxiety symptoms (n = 107) and diagnosis (n = 92), but only insofar as social context also led to increased post-error reaction time slowing (a measure of error preoccupation); this model was not significantly related to generalized anxiety. Results extend prior work on socially induced changes in error monitoring and error preoccupation. These measures could index a neurobehavioral mechanism linking BI to adolescent social anxiety symptoms and diagnosis. This mechanism could relate more strongly to social than to generalized anxiety in the peri-adolescent period. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. All rights reserved.
Dopaminergic Neurotransmission in the Nucleus Accumbens Modulates Social Play Behavior in Rats

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Manduca, Antonia; Servadio, Michela; Damsteegt, Ruth; Campolongo, Patrizia; Vanderschuren, Louk Jmj; Trezza, Viviana

2016-01-01

Social play behavior is a highly rewarding form of social interaction displayed by young mammals. Social play is important for neurobehavioral development and it has been found to be impaired in several developmental psychiatric disorders. In line with the rewarding properties of social play, we
Oxytocin and vasopressin are dysregulated in Williams Syndrome, a genetic disorder affecting social behavior.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Dai

Full Text Available The molecular and neural mechanisms regulating human social-emotional behaviors are fundamentally important but largely unknown; unraveling these requires a genetic systems neuroscience analysis of human models. Williams Syndrome (WS, a condition caused by deletion of ~28 genes, is associated with a gregarious personality, strong drive to approach strangers, difficult peer interactions, and attraction to music. WS provides a unique opportunity to identify endogenous human gene-behavior mechanisms. Social neuropeptides including oxytocin (OT and arginine vasopressin (AVP regulate reproductive and social behaviors in mammals, and we reasoned that these might mediate the features of WS. Here we established blood levels of OT and AVP in WS and controls at baseline, and at multiple timepoints following a positive emotional intervention (music, and a negative physical stressor (cold. We also related these levels to standardized indices of social behavior. Results revealed significantly higher median levels of OT in WS versus controls at baseline, with a less marked increase in AVP. Further, in WS, OT and AVP increased in response to music and to cold, with greater variability and an amplified peak release compared to controls. In WS, baseline OT but not AVP, was correlated positively with approach, but negatively with adaptive social behaviors. These results indicate that WS deleted genes perturb hypothalamic-pituitary release not only of OT but also of AVP, implicating more complex neuropeptide circuitry for WS features and providing evidence for their roles in endogenous regulation of human social behavior. The data suggest a possible biological basis for amygdalar involvement, for increased anxiety, and for the paradox of increased approach but poor social relationships in WS. They also offer insight for translating genetic and neuroendocrine knowledge into treatments for disorders of social behavior.
Predicting Academics via Behavior within an Elementary Sample: An Evaluation of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS)

Science.gov (United States)

Kilgus, Stephen P.; Bowman, Nicollette A.; Christ, Theodore J.; Taylor, Crystal N.

2017-01-01

This study examined the extent to which teacher ratings of student behavior via the "Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener" (SAEBRS) predicted academic achievement in math and reading. A secondary purpose was to compare the predictive capacity of three SAEBRS subscales corresponding to social, academic, or emotional…
Development and Examination of Personal and Social Responsibility Behaviors Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bijen FİLİZ

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, “Personal and Social Responsibility Behaviors Scale (PSRB-S” was developed in order to determine students’ responsibility behaviors in accordance with “Personal and Social Responsibility” model developed by Don Hellison and students’ personal and social responsibility levels were examined in terms of gender, age and years of sport practice through this scale. Pertaining to personal and social dimension of responsibility, four-category Likert type trial scale consisting of 52 items and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA were applied to 330 high-school students. Items that did not apply as a result of the analysis were omitted from 52-item trial scale and the scale was reduced to 14 items. A final scale consisting of two factors was created. Obtained scale was applied to different 250 high-school students for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA. It has been determined that EFA and CFA results of two-factor PSRB-S and reliability and validity of internal consistency coefficients are at an acceptable level. It was not detected a significance difference in total scores of athlete students’ responsibility behaviors in terms of gender and age variables while there were significant difference in their total scores of years of sport practice.
Interaction of mathematical modeling and social and behavioral HIV/AIDS research.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassels, Susan; Goodreau, Steven M

2011-03-01

HIV is transmitted within complex biobehavioral systems. Mathematical modeling can provide insight to complex population-level outcomes of various behaviors measured at an individual level. HIV models in the social and behavioral sciences can be categorized in a number of ways; here, we consider two classes of applications common in the field generally, and in the past year in particular: those models that explore significant behavioral determinants of HIV disparities within and between populations; and those models that seek to evaluate the potential impact of specific social and behavioral interventions. We discuss two overarching issues we see in the field: the need to further systematize effectiveness models of behavioral interventions, and the need for increasing investigation of the use of behavioral data in epidemic models. We believe that a recent initiative by the National Institutes of Health will qualitatively change the relationships between epidemic modeling and sociobehavioral prevention research in the coming years.
A working model for the assessment of disruptions in social behavior among aged rats: The role of sex differences, social recognition, and sensorimotor processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Amy E; Doremus-Fitzwater, Tamara L; Spencer, Robert L; Varlinskaya, Elena I; Conti, Melissa M; Bishop, Christopher; Deak, Terrence

2016-04-01

Aging results in a natural decline in social behavior, yet little is known about the processes underlying these changes. Engaging in positive social interaction is associated with many health benefits, including reduced stress reactivity, and may serve as a potential buffer against adverse consequences of aging. The goal of these studies was to establish a tractable model for the assessment of social behavior deficits associated with late aging. Thus, in Exp. 1, 1.5-, 3-, and 18-month-old male Fischer 344 (F344) rats were assessed for object investigation, and social interaction with a same-aged partner (novel/familiar), or a different-aged partner, thereby establishing working parameters for studies that followed. Results revealed that 18-month-old males exhibited reductions in social investigation and social contact behavior, with this age-related decline not influenced by familiarity or age of the social partner. Subsequently, Exp. 2 extended assessment of social behavior to both male and female F344 rats at multiple ages (3, 9, 18, and 24 months), after which a series of sensorimotor performance tests were conducted. In this study, both males and females exhibited late aging-related reductions in social interactions, but these changes were more pronounced in females. Additionally, sensorimotor performance was shown to be impaired in 24-month-olds, but not 18-month-olds, with this deficit more evident in males. Finally, Exp. 3 examined whether aging-related inflammation could account for declines in social behavior during late aging by administering naproxen (0, 7, 14, and 28 mg/kg; s.c.)-a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-to 18-month-old females. Results from this study revealed that social behavior was unaffected by acute or repeated (6 days) naproxen, suggesting that aging-related social deficits in females may not be a consequence of a general aging-related inflammation and/or malaise. Together, these findings demonstrate that aging-related declines in
Effect of social isolation on anxiety-related behaviors, cortisol, and monoamines in adult zebrafish.

Science.gov (United States)

Shams, Soaleha; Seguin, Diane; Facciol, Amanda; Chatterjee, Diptendu; Gerlai, Robert

2017-12-01

Social isolation can be used to study behavioral, neural, and hormonal mechanisms that regulate interactions in social animals. Although isolation effects have been reported in social mammals and various fish species, systematic studies with isolated zebrafish are rare. Here, the authors examined behavior (social and nonsocial), physiological stress (whole-body cortisol levels), and neurochemicals (serotonin, dopamine, and their metabolites), following acute and chronic social isolation in adult zebrafish. To observe how isolated fish respond behaviorally to social stimuli, they exposed zebrafish to live conspecifics or animated images after acute (24 hr) or chronic (6 months) social isolation. The authors observed that isolation did not affect locomotor activity, but acute isolation had weak nonsignificant anxiogenic effects in adult zebrafish. They also found that all isolated fish responded to both live and animated social stimuli, and the stress hormone, cortisol was lower in chronically isolated fish. Finally, neurochemical analyses showed that serotonin levels increased when fish were exposed to social stimulus after acute isolation, but its metabolite 5HIAA decreased in response to social stimulus following both acute and chronic isolation. Levels of both dopamine and its metabolite DOPAC were also reduced in fish exposed to social stimulus after acute and chronic isolation. Overall, these results show that isolation in zebrafish is an effective tool to study fundamental mechanisms controlling social interaction at behavioral and physiological levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
Are health behavior change interventions that use online social networks effective? A systematic review.

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Maher, Carol A; Lewis, Lucy K; Ferrar, Katia; Marshall, Simon; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Vandelanotte, Corneel

2014-02-14

The dramatic growth of Web 2.0 technologies and online social networks offers immense potential for the delivery of health behavior change campaigns. However, it is currently unclear how online social networks may best be harnessed to achieve health behavior change. The intent of the study was to systematically review the current level of evidence regarding the effectiveness of online social network health behavior interventions. Eight databases (Scopus, CINAHL, Medline, ProQuest, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Web of Science and Communication & Mass Media Complete) were searched from 2000 to present using a comprehensive search strategy. Study eligibility criteria were based on the PICOS format, where "population" included child or adult populations, including healthy and disease populations; "intervention" involved behavior change interventions targeting key modifiable health behaviors (tobacco and alcohol consumption, dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behavior) delivered either wholly or in part using online social networks; "comparator" was either a control group or within subject in the case of pre-post study designs; "outcomes" included health behavior change and closely related variables (such as theorized mediators of health behavior change, eg, self-efficacy); and "study design" included experimental studies reported in full-length peer-reviewed sources. Reports of intervention effectiveness were summarized and effect sizes (Cohen's d and 95% confidence intervals) were calculated wherever possible. Attrition (percentage of people who completed the study), engagement (actual usage), and fidelity (actual usage/intended usage) with the social networking component of the interventions were scrutinized. A total of 2040 studies were identified from the database searches following removal of duplicates, of which 10 met inclusion criteria. The studies involved a total of 113,988 participants (ranging from n=10 to n=107,907). Interventions included
Actual versus perceived peer sexual risk behavior in online youth social networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Black, Sandra R; Schmiege, Sarah; Bull, Sheana

2013-09-01

Perception of peer behaviors is an important predictor of actual risk behaviors among youth. However, we lack understanding of peer influence through social media and of actual and perceived peer behavior concordance. The purpose of this research is to document the relationship between individual perception of and actual peer sexual risk behavior using online social networks. The data are a result of a secondary analysis of baseline self-reported and peer-reported sexual risk behavior from a cluster randomized trial including 1,029 persons from 162 virtual networks. Individuals (seeds) recruited up to three friends who then recruited additional friends, extending three waves from the seed. ANOVA models compared network means of actual participant behavior across categories of perceived behavior. Concordance varied between reported and perceived behavior, with higher concordance between perceived and reported condom use, multiple partners, concurrent partners, sexual pressure, and drug and alcohol use during sex. Individuals significantly over-reported risk and under-reported protective peer behaviors related to sex.
The Role of Social Media Advertising in Consumer Buying Behavior

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Adnan Veysel Ertemel

2017-06-01

Full Text Available P Consumer buying behavior is known also as consumer decision making is the process by which individuals search for, select, purchase, use, and dispose of goods and services to satisfy require needs. This study has been designed to answer main question about the role of social media advertising on consumer buying behavior in very active field which is fashion retail industry, then determine the differences if existed in this relation regarding to the name of the brands and consumer demographics factors. By electronic questionnaires conducted for consumers live in Istanbul-Turkey, findings showed weak relation between social media advertising and consumer need recognition, no relation at all with search for information, strong relation with evaluate the alternatives, and moderate relation for both buying decision and post-purchase behavior, as those steps represent the five steps need recognition model in consumer buying behavior. Moreover, findings showed no changes in this relation regarding to consumer’s age, and education level. However, there were changes between Females and males in the relation with consumer need recognition, and search for information. In addition, another changes regarding to income between social media advertising and evaluate the alternatives especially for consumers earn more than 5.000TL among other income groups.
SOCIAL BEHAVIORAL CHANGES IN MPTP-TREATED MONKEY MODEL OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE.

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Elodie eDURAND

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Parkinsonian patients experience not only the physical discomfort of motor disorders but also the considerable psychological distress caused by cognitive deficits and behavioral disorders. These two factors can result in a disruption of social relationships during the symptomatic and even the presymptomatic motor states of the disease. However, it remains difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate social relationships in presymptomatic patients. The present study focused on the evaluation of social relationships within a group of female long-tailed macaques during presymptomatic and symptomatic motor states induced by Chronic Low-Dose (CLD and then Chronic High-Dose (CHD systemic administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-l,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP. Dopaminergic denervation within basal ganglia and cortical areas was evaluated using Positron Emission Tomography (PET scans with 18F-DOPA (6-[18F]-fluoro-L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine radiotracer.Interestingly, social behavioral changes could be identified in the presymptomatic motor state before any motor and/or cognitive impairment occurred. Stronger effects were observed in subordinate animals compared to dominant animals. From baseline state to CLD-presymptomatic motor state, the frequency of emitted affiliative and aggressive behaviors increased. From CLD-presymptomatic to CHD-presymptomatic motor states, the frequency of the three categories of social behaviors (aggressive, submissive and affiliative decreased. At this time, quantitative data analysis in PET scans highlighted a dopaminergic denervation in the insula and the posterior caudate nucleus. Finally, the frequency of the three categories of social behaviors decreased during the stable-symptomatic motor state compared to baseline and presymptomatic motor states; this was also associated with motor and cognitive disorders and a dopaminergic denervation in all the evaluated cortical and subcortical structures.
The effects of chronic social defeat stress on mouse self-grooming behavior and its patterning.

Science.gov (United States)

Denmark, Ashley; Tien, David; Wong, Keith; Chung, Amanda; Cachat, Jonathan; Goodspeed, Jason; Grimes, Chelsea; Elegante, Marco; Suciu, Christopher; Elkhayat, Salem; Bartels, Brett; Jackson, Andrew; Rosenberg, Michael; Chung, Kyung Min; Badani, Hussain; Kadri, Ferdous; Roy, Sudipta; Tan, Julia; Gaikwad, Siddharth; Stewart, Adam; Zapolsky, Ivan; Gilder, Thomas; Kalueff, Allan V

2010-04-02

Stress induced by social defeat is a strong modifier of animal anxiety and depression-like phenotypes. Self-grooming is a common rodent behavior, and has an ordered cephalo-caudal progression from licking of the paws to head, body, genitals and tail. Acute stress is known to alter grooming activity levels and disrupt its patterning. Following 15-17 days of chronic social defeat stress, grooming behavior was analyzed in adult male C57BL/6J mice exhibiting either dominant or subordinate behavior. Our study showed that subordinate mice experience higher levels of anxiety and display disorganized patterning of their grooming behaviors, which emerges as a behavioral marker of chronic social stress. These findings indicate that chronic social stress modulates grooming behavior in mice, thus illustrating the importance of grooming phenotypes for neurobehavioral stress research. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The relationship of parenting styles and social competency to Type A behavior in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Harralson, T L; Lawler, K A

1992-10-01

This study examined parenting styles, Type A behavior in parents and children, and social competence in children. Fifty 1st-6th grade children, parents, and their teachers participated. Type A behavior in parents was associated with a controlling style of parenting, but not with pressuring the child to achieve. Parenting styles of achievement pressure and high control were related to impatient and aggressive behaviors in children, as measured by the MYTH, a teacher-scored Type A behavior instrument. In addition, impatience and aggressiveness in the children were negatively correlated with the child's social competency and ability to function in school. Parenting practices, Type A behavior, and social competency in children may play important roles in the origins of detrimental components of Type A behavior, such as impatience and aggression.

Maternal depression: effects on social cognition and behavior in parent-child interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lovejoy, M C

1991-12-01

The social interactions of depressed and nondepressed mothers and their preschool-age children were observed and mothers' perceptions of child behavior assessed. Depressed mothers, as a group, exhibited more negative behavior than controls; however, no differences were found for maternal positive behavior or contingent responding. There was a high degree of reciprocity between child and mother behavior in both groups and there was a trend for children of the depressed mothers to be more negative than the control children. The results with cognitive measures were consistent with depressive realism in perception of social interactions: Depressed mothers recalled more negative child behavior than nondepressed mothers; however, these perceptions paralleled the observed interactions. Overall, the results suggest that maternal depression is associated with negative parent-child interactions and more negative, albeit fairly accurate, perceptions of child behavior.
Social desirability and self-reported health risk behaviors in web-based research: three longitudinal studies

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Göritz Anja S

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background These studies sought to investigate the relation between social desirability and self-reported health risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol use, drug use, smoking in web-based research. Methods Three longitudinal studies (Study 1: N = 5612, 51% women; Study 2: N = 619, 60%; Study 3: N = 846, 59% among randomly selected members of two online panels (Dutch; German using several social desirability measures (Marlowe-Crowne Scale; Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding; The Social Desirability Scale-17 were conducted. Results Social desirability was not associated with self-reported current behavior or behavior frequency. Socio-demographics (age; sex; education did not moderate the effect of social desirability on self-reported measures regarding health risk behaviors. Conclusions The studies at hand provided no convincing evidence to throw doubt on the usefulness of the Internet as a medium to collect self-reports on health risk behaviors.
Focusing on symptoms rather than diagnoses in brain dysfunction: conscious and nonconscious expression in impulsiveness and decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Palomo, T; Beninger, R J; Kostrzewa, R M; Archer, T

2008-08-01

Symptoms and syndromes in neuropathology, whether expressed in conscious or nonconscious behaviour, remain imbedded in often complex diagnostic categories. Symptom-based strategies for studying brain disease states are driven by assessments of presenting symptoms, signs, assay results, neuroimages and biomarkers. In the present account, symptom-based strategies are contrasted with existing diagnostic classifications. Topics include brain areas and regional circuitry underlying decision-making and impulsiveness, and motor and learned expressions of explicit and implicit processes. In three self-report studies on young adult and adolescent healthy individuals, it was observed that linear regression analyses between positive and negative affect, self-esteem, four different types of situational motivation: intrinsic, identified regulation, extrinsic regulation and amotivation, and impulsiveness predicted significant associations between impulsiveness with negative affect and lack of motivation (i.e., amotivation) and internal locus of control, on the one hand, and non-impulsiveness with positive affect, self-esteem, and high motivation (i.e., intrinsic motivation and identified regulation), on the other. Although presymptomatic, these cognitive-affective characterizations illustrate individuals' choice behaviour in appraisals of situations, events and proclivities essentially of distal perspective. Neuropathological expressions provide the proximal realities of symptoms and syndromes with underlying dysfunctionality of brain regions, circuits and molecular mechanisms.
Social Capital and Bystander Behavior in Bullying: Internalizing Problems as a Barrier to Prosocial Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Lyndsay N; Fredrick, Stephanie Secord

2017-04-01

Theory and research suggests that individuals with greater social capital (i.e., resources and benefits gained from relationships, experiences, and social interactions) may be more likely to be active, prosocial bystanders in bullying situations. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to examine the association of social capital (social support and social skills) with prosocial bystander behavior, and the role of internalizing problems as a potential barrier to this relation among 299 students (45.8% girls, 95% White) in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Results indicate a positive relation between social capital and prosocial bystander behavior. In addition, internalizing problems were a significant risk factor that may hinder youth-particularly girls-from engaging in defending behavior. Prosocial bystanders are an essential component to prevent and reduce bullying and further research is needed to better understand how to foster prosocial behavior in bullying situations, perhaps by utilizing social capital, related to school bullying.
Compensatory deficits following rejection: the role of social anxiety in disrupting affiliative behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallott, Michael A; Maner, Jon K; DeWall, Nathan; Schmidt, Norman B

2009-01-01

Managing perceived or actual social rejection is an important facet of meeting basic needs for affiliation. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by significant distress and debilitation relating to affiliation and recent work suggests higher levels of social anxiety symptoms may adversely affect responses to social rejection. This study examined emotional and behavioral responding to a social rejection stressor to explore whether social anxiety moderates the effects of social rejection on prosocial compensatory behaviors. Individuals (N=37) evaluated on social anxiety symptoms were assigned to either a social rejection condition or control condition. Consistent with expectation, rejection promoted renewed interest in connecting with sources of positive social interaction among participants low in social anxiety. Participants with higher levels of social anxiety, however, failed to react to rejection in a positive or prosocial manner and exhibited some evidence of negative social responses. Such differential compensatory responding could have important implications for the genesis, maintenance, and treatment of SAD.
Individualism-Collectivism, Social Self-Control and Adolescent Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Pokhrel, Pallav; Bennett, Brooke L; Regmi, Sakshi; Idrisov, Bulat; Galimov, Artur; Akhmadeeva, Leila; Sussman, Steve

2018-06-07

Individualism and collectivism are cultural syndromes that have been associated with adolescent problem behavior in studies conducted in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. However, research investigating the mechanisms of how cultural orientation impacts health risk behaviors has been limited. This study tested a new model explaining the relationship between cultural orientation (i.e., individualism, collectivism) and adolescent problem behavior (i.e., substance use and risky sex) in terms of interpersonal self-regulation (i.e., social self-control). As such, the study is rooted in theories of the role of culture in developing self-regulation. Participants were high school students (N = 716) from the Bashkirtostan Republic of the Russian Federation. Adolescents from the Russian Federation tend to show high prevalence of cigarette smoking and binge drinking. People of the Russian Federation in general are traditionally collectivist in orientation, although increased globalization and post-Soviet capitalism may indicate high individualist values in younger generation Russians. Using path analysis we found that in addition to having direct effects, higher individualism indirectly affected substance use and risky sexual behavior through social self-control and negative life events. Higher collectivism was found to have a direct protective effect on risky sexual behavior and a direct effect on social self-control. However, collectivism was not found to have indirect effects on substance use or risky sexual behavior. Higher individualism appears to function as a risk factor for adolescent problem behavior and this relationship may be mediated by lower social self-control. Culturally-tailored prevention programs utilizing the individualism-collectivism framework may benefit from addressing social self-control.
Neuropeptides and social behavior of rats tested in dyadic encounters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niesink, R.J.M.; Ree, J.M. van

1984-01-01

The effects of various neuropeptides on social behavior was studied in a test procedure in which 7-day isolated animals were tested together with non-isolated partners in dyadic encounters. The short-term isolation procedure increased the frequency and duration of social activities of the rats, but
Online social networks for crowdsourced multimedia-involved behavioral testing: An empirical study

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Jun-Ho eChoi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Online social networks have emerged as effective crowdsourcing media to recruit participants in recent days. However, issues regarding how to effectively exploit them have not been adequately addressed yet. In this paper, we investigate the reliability and effectiveness of multimedia-involved behavioral testing via social network-based crowdsourcing, especially focused on Facebook as a medium to recruit participants. We conduct a crowdsourcing-based experiment for a music recommendation problem. It is shown that different advertisement methods yield different degrees of efficiency and there exist significant differences in behavioral patterns across different genders and different age groups. In addition, we perform a comparison of our experiment with other multimedia-involved crowdsourcing experiments built on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk, which suggests that crowdsourcing-based experiments using social networks for recruitment can achieve comparable efficiency. Based on the analysis results, advantages and disadvantages of social network-based crowdsourcing and suggestions for successful experiments are also discussed. We conclude that social networks have the potential to support multimedia-involved behavioral tests to gather in-depth data even for long-term periods.
Online Social Networks for Crowdsourced Multimedia-Involved Behavioral Testing: An Empirical Study

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jun-Ho; Lee, Jong-Seok

2016-01-01

Online social networks have emerged as effective crowdsourcing media to recruit participants in recent days. However, issues regarding how to effectively exploit them have not been adequately addressed yet. In this paper, we investigate the reliability and effectiveness of multimedia-involved behavioral testing via social network-based crowdsourcing, especially focused on Facebook as a medium to recruit participants. We conduct a crowdsourcing-based experiment for a music recommendation problem. It is shown that different advertisement methods yield different degrees of efficiency and there exist significant differences in behavioral patterns across different genders and different age groups. In addition, we perform a comparison of our experiment with other multimedia-involved crowdsourcing experiments built on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), which suggests that crowdsourcing-based experiments using social networks for recruitment can achieve comparable efficiency. Based on the analysis results, advantages and disadvantages of social network-based crowdsourcing and suggestions for successful experiments are also discussed. We conclude that social networks have the potential to support multimedia-involved behavioral tests to gather in-depth data even for long-term periods. PMID:26793137
Stress-relevant social behaviors of middle-class male cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis).

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Ding; Zhou, Yuan

2015-11-18

Stress from dominance ranks in human societies, or that of other social animals, especially nonhuman primates, can have negative influences on health. Individuals holding different social status may be burdened with various stress levels. The middle class experiences a special stress situation within the dominance hierarchy due to its position between the higher and lower classes. Behaviorally, questions about where middle-class stress comes from and how individuals adapt to middle-class stress remain poorly understood in nonhuman primates. In the present study, social interactions, including aggression, avoidance, grooming and mounting behaviors, between beta males, as well as among group members holding higher or lower social status, were analyzed in captive male-only cynomolgus monkey groups. We found that aggressive tension from the higher hierarchy members was the main origin of stress for middle-class individuals. However, behaviors such as attacking lower hierarchy members immediately after being the recipient of aggression, as well as increased avoidance, grooming and mounting toward both higher and lower hierarchy members helped alleviate middle-class stress and were particular adaptations to middle-class social status.
Online Social Networks for Crowdsourced Multimedia-Involved Behavioral Testing: An Empirical Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jun-Ho; Lee, Jong-Seok

2015-01-01

Online social networks have emerged as effective crowdsourcing media to recruit participants in recent days. However, issues regarding how to effectively exploit them have not been adequately addressed yet. In this paper, we investigate the reliability and effectiveness of multimedia-involved behavioral testing via social network-based crowdsourcing, especially focused on Facebook as a medium to recruit participants. We conduct a crowdsourcing-based experiment for a music recommendation problem. It is shown that different advertisement methods yield different degrees of efficiency and there exist significant differences in behavioral patterns across different genders and different age groups. In addition, we perform a comparison of our experiment with other multimedia-involved crowdsourcing experiments built on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), which suggests that crowdsourcing-based experiments using social networks for recruitment can achieve comparable efficiency. Based on the analysis results, advantages and disadvantages of social network-based crowdsourcing and suggestions for successful experiments are also discussed. We conclude that social networks have the potential to support multimedia-involved behavioral tests to gather in-depth data even for long-term periods.
Play with Me! Gender-Typed Social Play Behavior Analysis in Interactive Tag Games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moreno, Alejandro; Poppe, R.W.; Heylen, Dirk K J

2016-01-01

Promoting social behavior is one of the key goals in interactive games. In this paper, we present an experimental study in the Interactive Tag Playground (ITP) to investigate whether social behaviors reported in literature can also be observed through automated analysis. We do this by analyzing
Play with Me! Gender-Typed Social Play Behavior Analysis in Interactive Tag Games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moreno Celleri, Alejandro Manuel; Poppe, Ronald Walter; Heylen, Dirk K.J.

Promoting social behavior is one of the key goals in interactive games. In this paper, we present an experimental study in the Interactive Tag Playground (ITP) to investigate whether social behaviors reported in literature can also be observed through automated analysis. We do this by analyzing
A novel escapable social interaction test reveals that social behavior and mPFC activation during an escapable social encounter are altered by post-weaning social isolation and are dependent on the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat

Science.gov (United States)

Goodell, Dayton J.; Ahern, Megan A.; Baynard, Jessica; Wall, Vanessa L.; Bland, Sondra T.

2016-01-01

Post-weaning social isolation (PSI) has been shown to increase aggressive behavior and alter medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) function in social species such as rats. Here we developed a novel escapable social interaction test (ESIT) allowing for the quantification of escape and social behaviors in addition to mPFC activation in response to an aggressive or nonaggressive stimulus rat. Male rats were exposed to 3 weeks of PSI (ISO) or group (GRP) housing, and exposed to 3 trials, with either no trial, all trials, or the last trial only with a stimulus rat. Analysis of social behaviors indicated that ISO rats spent less time in the escape chamber and more time engaged in social interaction, aggressive grooming, and boxing than did GRP rats. Interestingly, during the third trial all rats engaged in more of the quantified social behaviors and spent less time escaping in response to aggressive but not nonaggressive stimulus rats. Rats exposed to nonaggressive stimulus rats on the third trial had greater c-fos and ARC immunoreactivity in the mPFC than those exposed to an aggressive stimulus rat. Conversely, a social encounter produced an increase in large PSD-95 punctae in the mPFC independently of trial number, but only in ISO rats exposed to an aggressive stimulus rat. The results presented here demonstrate that PSI increases interaction time and aggressive behaviors during escapable social interaction, and that the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat in a social encounter is an important component of behavioral and neural outcomes for both isolation and group-reared rats. PMID:27633556
Effects of Early-Life Stress on Social and Anxiety-Like Behaviors in Adult Mice: Sex-Specific Effects

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Natalya P. Bondar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Stressful events in an early postnatal period have critical implications for the individual’s life and can increase later risk for psychiatric disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of early-life stress on the social behavior of adult male and female mice. C57Bl/6 mice were exposed to maternal separation (MS, 3 h once a day or handling (HD, 15 min once a day on postnatal day 2 through 14. Adult male and female mice were tested for social behavior in the social interaction test and for individual behavior in the plus-maze and open-field tests. Female mice exposed to maternal separation had increased social behavior and increased anxiety. MS male mice had no changes in social behavior but had significantly disrupted individual behavior, including locomotor and exploratory activity. Handling had positive effects on social behavior in males and females and decreased anxiety in males. Our results support the hypothesis that brief separation of pups from their mothers (handling, which can be considered as moderate stress, may result in future positive changes in behavior. Maternal separation has deleterious effects on individual behavior and significant sex-specific effects on social behavior.
Physiological and behavioral responses to the social environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, D.E.

1978-01-01

Physiological and behavioral reactions to the social environment are mediated in nature principally through aggressive interactions, although in some cases other aspects of the environment such as temperature or predators are important. Observations from 1946-50 of changes in populations of rats after alteration of social conditions suggested the hypothesis that changes in birth and mortality rates followed aggressive interactions. The pituitary-adrenal-gonadal mechanism provided a process that could be tested in three types of conditions: laboratory, simulated field, and field. Changes in social environment can result from: seasonal changes in conditions; appearance of transients; habitat changes due to succession; and increase of population. It became apparent from laboratory research that a physiological feedback from aggressive behavior could reduce birth rates and increase mortality rates. Studies in nature showed that a reduction of Norway rat population by 38 percent was followed by a reduction of adrenal weight by 32 percent. Also as the population of rats increased the weight of the adrenals increased. A comprehensive study of woodchucks, started in 1957, showed that the alteration of age composition and the increase in immigration was associated with increased adrenal function. Research by others on lemmings shows that the adrenals at the peak of a population fluctuation are larger and produce more hormones than at the low point. No evidence was obtained to support the hypothesis that genetic selection for aggressive behavior within the population occurs during the increase or decline of a population. The changes occur within an individual. The future of studies of responses to the social environment will require experimental programs in nature that last for a decade or more, long enough to monitor changes in numbers under a variety of conditions
Adolescent peer relationships and behavior problems predict young adults' communication on social networking websites.

Science.gov (United States)

Mikami, Amori Yee; Szwedo, David E; Allen, Joseph P; Evans, Meredyth A; Hare, Amanda L

2010-01-01

This study examined online communication on social networking web pages in a longitudinal sample of 92 youths (39 male, 53 female). Participants' social and behavioral adjustment was assessed when they were ages 13-14 years and again at ages 20-22 years. At ages 20-22 years, participants' social networking website use and indicators of friendship quality on their web pages were coded by observers. Results suggested that youths who had been better adjusted at ages 13-14 years were more likely to be using social networking web pages at ages 20-22 years, after statistically controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and parental income. Overall, youths' patterns of peer relationships, friendship quality, and behavioral adjustment at ages 13-14 years and at ages 20-22 years predicted similar qualities of interaction and problem behavior on their social networking websites at ages 20-22 years. Findings are consistent with developmental theory asserting that youths display cross-situational continuity in their social behaviors and suggest that the conceptualization of continuity may be extended into the online domain. Copyright 2009 APA, all rights reserved.
Emotional and cognitive social processes are impaired in Parkinson's disease and are related to behavioral disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Narme, Pauline; Mouras, Harold; Roussel, Martine; Duru, Cécile; Krystkowiak, Pierre; Godefroy, Olivier

2013-03-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with behavioral disorders that can affect social functioning but are poorly understood. Since emotional and cognitive social processes are known to be crucial in social relationships, impairment of these processes may account for the emergence of behavioral disorders. We used a systematic battery of tests to assess emotional processes and social cognition in PD patients and relate our findings to conventional neuropsychological data (especially behavioral disorders). Twenty-three PD patients and 46 controls (matched for age and educational level) were included in the study and underwent neuropsychological testing, including an assessment of the behavioral and cognitive components of executive function. Emotional and cognitive social processes were assessed with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index caregiver-administered questionnaire (as a measure of empathy), a facial emotion recognition task and two theory of mind (ToM) tasks. When compared with controls, PD patients showed low levels of empathy (p = .006), impaired facial emotion recognition (which persisted after correction for perceptual abilities) (p = .001), poor performance in a second-order ToM task (p = .008) that assessed both cognitive (p = .004) and affective (p = .03) inferences and, lastly, frequent dysexecutive behavioral disorders (in over 40% of the patients). Overall, impaired emotional and cognitive social functioning was observed in 17% of patients and was related to certain cognitive dysexecutive disorders. In terms of behavioral dysexecutive disorders, social behavior disorders were related to impaired emotional and cognitive social functioning (p = .04) but were independent of cognitive impairments. Emotional and cognitive social processes were found to be impaired in Parkinson's disease. This impairment may account for the emergence of social behavioral disorders. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.
Global Brain Dynamics During Social Exclusion Predict Subsequent Behavioral Conformity

OpenAIRE

Wasylyshyn, Nick; Hemenway, Brett; Garcia, Javier O.; Cascio, Christopher N.; O'Donnell, Matthew Brook; Bingham, C. Raymond; Simons-Morton, Bruce; Vettel, Jean M.; Falk, Emily B.

2017-01-01

Individuals react differently to social experiences; for example, people who are more sensitive to negative social experiences, such as being excluded, may be more likely to adapt their behavior to fit in with others. We examined whether functional brain connectivity during social exclusion in the fMRI scanner can be used to predict subsequent conformity to peer norms. Adolescent males (N = 57) completed a two-part study on teen driving risk: a social exclusion task (Cyberball) during an fMRI...
Promoting Behavior Change Using Social Norms: Applying a Community Based Social Marketing Tool to Extension Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhary, Anil Kumar; Warner, Laura A.

2015-01-01

Most educational programs are designed to produce lower level outcomes, and Extension educators are challenged to produce behavior change in target audiences. Social norms are a very powerful proven tool for encouraging sustainable behavior change among Extension's target audiences. Minor modifications to program content to demonstrate the…

Social Information Processing, Experiences of Aggression in Social Contexts, and Aggressive Behavior in Adolescents

OpenAIRE

Lösel, Friedrich; Bliesener, Thomas; Bender, Doris

2013-01-01

This study examines social information processing and experiences of aggression in social contexts as predictors of different forms of aggressive behavior. A sample of 102 boys (aggressive, average, competent, and victimized students) was investigated with a prospective design in Grade 7/8 and again in Grade 9/10. Results show an aggressive-impulsive response repertoire strongly predicted self-reported and teacher-reported physical aggression, verbal aggression, violent offenses, general aggr...
Social Skills Training and Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Casey, Kathryn J.

2012-01-01

There is a large body of literature suggesting that students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) lack appropriate social skills, including deficits in building and maintaining interpersonal relationships, prosocial behaviors (e.g., sharing, helping, cooperation), and self-management strategies. While the literature shows small to modest…
The Impact of Formal Hierarchies on Enterprise Social Networking Behavior

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Behrendt, Sebastian; Klier, Julia; Klier, Mathias

2015-01-01

With more and more companies using enterprise social networks (ESN) for employee communication and collaboration, the influence of ESN on organizational hierarchies has been subject of countless discussions in practice-oriented media and first academic studies. Conversely, the question whether...... and how formal organizational hierarchies influence ESN usage behavior has not yet been addressed. Drawing on a rich data set comprising 2.5 years of relationship building via direct messages, confirmed contact requests, and group messages, we are able to show that formal hierarchies have an important...... impact on social networking behavior. By applying means of social network analysis and supported by statements from interviews, we illustrate how deeply formal hierarchy impacts the three examined types of relationships. Our results motivate academics to further study the interrelation between hierarchy...
Disrupted cortical function underlies behavior dysfunction due to social isolation

Science.gov (United States)

Miyazaki, Tomoyuki; Takase, Kenkichi; Nakajima, Waki; Tada, Hirobumi; Ohya, Daisuke; Sano, Akane; Goto, Takahisa; Hirase, Hajime; Malinow, Roberto; Takahashi, Takuya

2012-01-01

Stressful events during early childhood can have a profound lifelong influence on emotional and cognitive behaviors. However, the mechanisms by which stress affects neonatal brain circuit formation are poorly understood. Here, we show that neonatal social isolation disrupts molecular, cellular, and circuit developmental processes, leading to behavioral dysfunction. Neonatal isolation prevented long-term potentiation and experience-dependent synaptic trafficking of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) receptors normally occurring during circuit formation in the rodent barrel cortex. This inhibition of AMPA receptor trafficking was mediated by an increase of the stress glucocorticoid hormone and was associated with reduced calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II (CaMKII) signaling, resulting in attenuated whisker sensitivity at the cortex. These effects led to defects in whisker-dependent behavior in juvenile animals. These results indicate that neonatal social isolation alters neuronal plasticity mechanisms and perturbs the initial establishment of a normal cortical circuit, which potentially explains the long-lasting behavioral effects of neonatal stress. PMID:22706303
Rational Behavior Training: A Seven Lesson Sequence for Teaching Rational Behavior Skills to Students with Social and Emotional Disabilities.

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Patton, Patricia Lucey

This seven lesson curriculum sequence is designed to help teachers teach principles of Rational Behavior Training (RBT) which targets thinking behaviors, feeling behaviors, and behavioral responses to the environment. The program is appropriate for students with social and emotional disabilities and also develops reading, writing, spelling,…
THE FAILURE OF SOCIALIZATION AND DEVIANT BEHAVIORS OF MINORS -CASE STUDY FOR ARAD COUNTY-

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Maria OPREA

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Social deviance characteristic of minors and adolescents in particular expresses types of social behaviors that lead to a deep concern on the part of society. These behaviors can be the result of failure in primary socialization, the absence of an affective climate in disorganized families, and are often determined by the impossibility of school, as a socializing entity, to compensate for the educational errors of the family of origin as well as the negative influence of peer groups. The failure of socialization can even lead to juvenile delinquency, behaviors that stray from the legal norm and fall under criminal law sanctions so that a part of these minors end up under the supervision of probation services or worse, in the prison system. Based on these considerations the study conducted aims to highlight some anomic behaviors of Arad County minors, their specific family environment, school environment, entourage as well as the formulation of measures regarding the decrease of deviant phenomena of minors.
Effects of level of social contact on dairy calf behavior and health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Margit Bak; Larsen, Lars Erik

2014-01-01

Housing preweaned dairy calves in pairs rather than individually has been found to positively affect behavioral responses in novel social and environmental situations, but concerns have been raised that close contact among very young animals may impair their health. In previous studies, the level...... of social contact permitted in individual housing has been auditory, visual, or physical contact. It is unclear how these various levels of social contact compare with each other and to pair housing, when their effects on behavior and health are considered, and whether the timing of pair housing has...
An evolutionary theory of human motivation.

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Bernard, Larry C; Mills, Michael; Swenson, Leland; Walsh, R Patricia

2005-05-01

The authors review psychology's historical, competing perspectives on human motivation and propose a new comprehensive theory. The new theory is based on evolutionary principles as proposed by C. Darwin (1859) and modified by W. D. Hamilton (1964, 1996), R. L. Trivers (1971, 1972), and R. Dawkins (1989). The theory unifies biological, behavioral, and cognitive approaches to motivation. The theory is neuropsychological and addresses conscious and nonconscious processes that underlie motivation, emotion, and self-control. The theory predicts a hierarchical structure of motives that are measurable as individual differences in human behavior. These motives are related to social problem domains (D. B. Bugental, 2000; D. T. Kenrick, N. P. Li, & J. Butner, 2003), and each is hypothesized to solve a particular problem of human inclusive fitness.
The role of empathic positive emotions in the social behavior of Argentinean teenagers

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Noely Gisela de la Vega

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the present investigation was to analyze if the empathic po- sitive emotions, sympathy and gratitude influence teenager’s social behavior. The sample was composed of 255 participants of both sexes (109 women and 146 men, aged 14-18 (M =15.97, DE = 1.18, who attended different schools in Buenos Aires province. In order to get the information, it was used: a the Index of Empathy for children and teenagers (Frías, Mestre, Perez and Samper, 1999; b the gratitude scale corresponding to the Questionnaire of Positive Emotions for teenagers (Schmidt, 2005 and c the Assertive Behavior scale (Michelson, Sugay, Wood and Kasdin, 1987. The results from MANO-VAs (Multivariate analysis of variance show that both sympathy and gratitude influence signifi- cantly teenager’s social behavior. Participants with high sympathy and gratitude show more assertive behaviors and less aggressive strategies in their social re- lationships. It corroborates the hypothesis that empathic emotion can enhance the development and performance of socially skilled behavior. Nevertheless, is important to note that this relation may not be unidirectional, but those positive emotions can enhance assertive behavior and this, in turn, provide feedback for positive emotional experience as it is expressed by the model of rising spiral by Fredrickson (Fredrickson, 2002.
A Review of Interventions Designed to Increase Sharing Behaviors in Children with Social Delays or Deficits

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Lane, Justin D.; Ledford, Jennifer R.

2016-01-01

Sharing materials is a complex social behavior that may lead to long-term development of friendships and concomitant increases in related prosocial behaviors. Given the complexities of sharing behaviors, children with social delays or deficits may not recognize when, how, and with whom to share. Because children with social delays or deficits,…
Does Neighborhood Social Capital Buffer the Effects of Maternal Depression on Adolescent Behavior Problems?

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Mays, Vickie M.; Cochran, Susan D.

2014-01-01

Neighborhood characteristics have been shown to impact child well-being. However, it remains unclear how these factors combine with family characteristics to influence child development. The current study helps develop that understanding by investigating how neighborhoods directly impact child and adolescent behavior problems as well as moderate the influence of family characteristics on behavior. Using multilevel linear models, we examined the relationship among neighborhood conditions (poverty and social capital) and maternal depression on child and adolescent behavior problems. The sample included 741 children, age 5–11, and 564 adolescents, age 12–17. Outcomes were internalizing (e.g. anxious/depressed) and externalizing (e.g. aggressive/hyperactive) behavior problems. Neighborhood poverty and maternal depression were both positively associated with behavior problems for children and adolescents. However, while neighborhood social capital was not directly associated with behavior problems, the interaction of social capital and maternal depression was significantly related to behavior problems for adolescents. This interaction showed that living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social capital attenuated the relationship between maternal depression and adolescent behavior problems and confirmed the expectation that raising healthy well-adjusted children depends not only on the family, but also the context in which the family lives. PMID:24659390
Does neighborhood social capital buffer the effects of maternal depression on adolescent behavior problems?

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Delany-Brumsey, Ayesha; Mays, Vickie M; Cochran, Susan D

2014-06-01

Neighborhood characteristics have been shown to impact child well-being. However, it remains unclear how these factors combine with family characteristics to influence child development. The current study helps develop that understanding by investigating how neighborhoods directly impact child and adolescent behavior problems as well as moderate the influence of family characteristics on behavior. Using multilevel linear models, we examined the relationship among neighborhood conditions (poverty and social capital) and maternal depression on child and adolescent behavior problems. The sample included 741 children, age 5–11, and 564 adolescents, age 12–17. Outcomes were internalizing (e.g. anxious/depressed) and externalizing (e.g. aggressive/hyperactive) behavior problems. Neighborhood poverty and maternal depression were both positively associated with behavior problems for children and adolescents. However, while neighborhood social capital was not directly associated with behavior problems, the interaction of social capital and maternal depression was significantly related to behavior problems for adolescents. This interaction showed that living in neighborhoods with higher levels of social capital attenuated the relationship between maternal depression and adolescent behavior problems and confirmed the expectation that raising healthy well-adjusted children depends not only on the family, but also the context in which the family lives.
Influence of Social Settings on Risky Sexual Behavior

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James B. Hittner

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the relevance of social settings as predictors of risky sexual behavior. In a young adult sample (n = 324, M age = 20.2 years, we examined the association between frequency of attendance at five different settings and frequency of engaging in four risky sexual behaviors (i.e., unprotected intercourse when not drunk or high, unprotected intercourse when drunk or high, casual sex when not drunk or high, casual sex when drunk or high. Predictive associations were examined using negative binomial regression, and all analyses controlled for frequency of recent alcohol use and age at first use of alcohol. Greater attendance at fraternity/sorority parties predicted more frequent intercourse for females in the not drunk or high and drunk or high contexts, and more frequent casual sex for males in the not drunk or high context. Greater attendance at large private parties predicted more frequent intercourse for females in the not drunk or high context. Greater attendance at bars without dance floors predicted more frequent intercourse for males in the drunk or high context. These findings highlight the importance of socializing habits in understanding risky sexual behavior.
Impairment of social behavior and communication in mice lacking the Uba6-dependent ubiquitin activation system.

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Lee, Ji Yeon; Kwak, Minseok; Lee, Peter C W

2015-03-15

The Uba6-Use1 ubiquitin enzyme cascade is a poorly understood arm of the ubiquitin-proteasome system required for mouse development. Recently, we reported that Uba6 brain-specific knockout (termed NKO) mice display abnormal social behavior and neuronal development due to a decreased spine density and accumulation of Ube3a and Shank3. To better characterize a potential role for NKO mice in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), we performed a comprehensive behavioral characterization of the social behavior and communication of NKO mice. Our behavioral results confirmed that NKO mice display social impairments, as indicated by fewer vocalizations and decreased social interaction. We conclude that UBA6 NKO mice represent a novel ASD mouse model of anti-social and less verbal behavioral symptoms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Mapping social behavior-induced brain activation at cellular resolution in the mouse

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Kim, Yongsoo; Venkataraju, Kannan Umadevi; Pradhan, Kith; Mende, Carolin; Taranda, Julian; Turaga, Srinivas C.; Arganda-Carreras, Ignacio; Ng, Lydia; Hawrylycz, Michael J.; Rockland, Kathleen; Seung, H. Sebastian; Osten, Pavel

2014-01-01

Understanding how brain activation mediates behaviors is a central goal of systems neuroscience. Here we apply an automated method for mapping brain activation in the mouse in order to probe how sex-specific social behaviors are represented in the male brain. Our method uses the immediate early gene c-fos, a marker of neuronal activation, visualized by serial two-photon tomography: the c-fos-GFP-positive neurons are computationally detected, their distribution is registered to a reference brain and a brain atlas, and their numbers are analyzed by statistical tests. Our results reveal distinct and shared female and male interaction-evoked patterns of male brain activation representing sex discrimination and social recognition. We also identify brain regions whose degree of activity correlates to specific features of social behaviors and estimate the total numbers and the densities of activated neurons per brain areas. Our study opens the door to automated screening of behavior-evoked brain activation in the mouse. PMID:25558063
Stress-Induced Elevation of Oxytocin in Maltreated Children: Evolution, Neurodevelopment, and Social Behavior

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Seltzer, Leslie J.; Ziegler, Toni; Connolly, Michael J.; Prososki, Ashley R.; Pollak, Seth D.

2014-01-01

Child maltreatment often has a negative impact on the development of social behavior and health. The biobehavioral mechanisms through which these adverse outcomes emerge, however, are not clear. To better understand the ways in which early life adversity affects subsequent social behavior, changes in the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) in children…
Effects of MDMA Injections on the Behavior of Socially-Housed Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis).

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Ballesta, Sébastien; Reymond, Gilles; Pozzobon, Matthieu; Duhamel, Jean-René

2016-01-01

3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methyl amphetamine (MDMA) is one of the few known molecules to increase human and rodent prosocial behaviors. However, this effect has never been assessed on the social behavior of non-human primates. In our study, we subcutaneously injected three different doses of MDMA (1.0, 1.5 or 2.0mg/kg) to a group of three, socially housed, young male long-tailed macaques. More than 200 hours of behavioral data were recorded, during 68 behavioral sessions, by an automatic color-based video device that tracked the 3D positions of each animal and of a toy. This data was then categorized into 5 exclusive behaviors (resting, locomotion, foraging, social contact and object play). In addition, received and given social grooming was manually scored. Results show several significant dose-dependent behavioral effects. At 1.5mg/kg only, MDMA induces a significant increase in social grooming behavior, thus confirming the prosocial effect of MDMA in macaques. Additionally, at 1.5 and 2.0 mg/kg MDMA injection substantially decreases foraging behavior, which is consistent with the known anorexigenic effect of this compound. Furthermore, at 2.0 mg/kg MDMA injection induces an increase in locomotor behavior, which is also in accordance with its known stimulant property. Interestingly, MDMA injected at 1.0mg/kg increases the rate of object play, which might be interpreted as a decrease of the inhibition to manipulate a unique object in presence of others, or, as an increase of the intrinsic motivation to manipulate this object. Together, our results support the effectiveness of MDMA to study the complex neurobiology of primates' social behaviors.
Effects of MDMA Injections on the Behavior of Socially-Housed Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis.

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Sébastien Ballesta

Full Text Available 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methyl amphetamine (MDMA is one of the few known molecules to increase human and rodent prosocial behaviors. However, this effect has never been assessed on the social behavior of non-human primates. In our study, we subcutaneously injected three different doses of MDMA (1.0, 1.5 or 2.0mg/kg to a group of three, socially housed, young male long-tailed macaques. More than 200 hours of behavioral data were recorded, during 68 behavioral sessions, by an automatic color-based video device that tracked the 3D positions of each animal and of a toy. This data was then categorized into 5 exclusive behaviors (resting, locomotion, foraging, social contact and object play. In addition, received and given social grooming was manually scored. Results show several significant dose-dependent behavioral effects. At 1.5mg/kg only, MDMA induces a significant increase in social grooming behavior, thus confirming the prosocial effect of MDMA in macaques. Additionally, at 1.5 and 2.0 mg/kg MDMA injection substantially decreases foraging behavior, which is consistent with the known anorexigenic effect of this compound. Furthermore, at 2.0 mg/kg MDMA injection induces an increase in locomotor behavior, which is also in accordance with its known stimulant property. Interestingly, MDMA injected at 1.0mg/kg increases the rate of object play, which might be interpreted as a decrease of the inhibition to manipulate a unique object in presence of others, or, as an increase of the intrinsic motivation to manipulate this object. Together, our results support the effectiveness of MDMA to study the complex neurobiology of primates' social behaviors.
Pyrrhic Victories: The Need for Social Status Drives Costly Competitive Behavior.

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Wouter eVan Den Bos

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Competitive behavior is commonly defined as the decision to maximize one’s payoffs relative to others. We argue instead that competitive drive derives from a desire for social status. We make use of a multi-player auction task in which subjects knowingly incur financial losses for the sake of winning auctions. First, we show that overbidding is increased when the task includes members of a rival out-group, suggesting that social identity is an important mediator of competitiveness. In addition, we show that the extent that individuals are willing to incur losses is related to affective responses to social comparisons but not to monetary outcomes. Second, we show that basal levels of testosterone predict overbidding, and that this effect of testosterone is mediated by affective responses to social comparisons. Based on these findings, we argue that competitive behavior should be conceptualized in terms of social motivations as opposed to just relative monetary payoffs.
A novel escapable social interaction test reveals that social behavior and mPFC activation during an escapable social encounter are altered by post-weaning social isolation and are dependent on the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat.

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Goodell, Dayton J; Ahern, Megan A; Baynard, Jessica; Wall, Vanessa L; Bland, Sondra T

2017-01-15

Post-weaning social isolation (PSI) has been shown to increase aggressive behavior and alter medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) function in social species such as rats. Here we developed a novel escapable social interaction test (ESIT) allowing for the quantification of escape and social behaviors in addition to mPFC activation in response to an aggressive or nonaggressive stimulus rat. Male rats were exposed to 3 weeks of PSI (ISO) or group (GRP) housing, and exposed to 3 trials, with either no trial, all trials, or the last trial only with a stimulus rat. Analysis of social behaviors indicated that ISO rats spent less time in the escape chamber and more time engaged in social interaction, aggressive grooming, and boxing than did GRP rats. Interestingly, during the third trial all rats engaged in more of the quantified social behaviors and spent less time escaping in response to aggressive but not nonaggressive stimulus rats. Rats exposed to nonaggressive stimulus rats on the third trial had greater c-fos and ARC immunoreactivity in the mPFC than those exposed to an aggressive stimulus rat. Conversely, a social encounter produced an increase in large PSD-95 punctae in the mPFC independently of trial number, but only in ISO rats exposed to an aggressive stimulus rat. The results presented here demonstrate that PSI increases interaction time and aggressive behaviors during escapable social interaction, and that the aggressiveness of the stimulus rat in a social encounter is an important component of behavioral and neural outcomes for both isolation and group-reared rats. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social capital and sexual behavior among Ugandan university students

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Anette Agardh

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Uganda has reduced its prevalence of HIV/AIDS from 18 to 6.5% within a decade. An important factor behind this might have been the response from faith-based voluntary organizations, which developed social capital for achieving this. Three behaviors have been targeted: Abstinence, Being faithful, and Condom use (the ABC strategy. The aim of this study was to explore the association between social capital and the ABC behaviors, especially with reference to religious factors. Methods: In 2005, 980 Ugandan university students responded to a self-administered questionnaire (response rate 80%. It assessed sociodemographic factors, social capital, importance of religion, sexual debut, number of lifetime sexual partners, and condom use. Logistic regression analysis was applied as the main analytical tool. Results: Thirty-seven percent of the male and 49% of the female students had not had sexual intercourse. Of those with sexual experience, 46% of the males and 23% of the females had had three or more lifetime sexual partners, and 32% of those males and 38% of the females stated they did not always use condoms with a new partner. Low trust in others was associated with a higher risk for not always using condoms with a new partner among male students (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1–2.8, and with a lower risk for sexual debut among female students (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.3–0.9. Non-dominant bridging trust among male students was associated with a higher risk for having had many sexual partners (OR1.8, 95% CI 1.2–2.9. However, low trust in others was associated with a greater likelihood of sexual debut in men, while the opposite was true in women, and a similar pattern was also seen regarding a high number of lifetime sexual partners in individuals who were raised in families where religion played a major role. Conclusions: In general, social capital was associated with less risky sexual behavior in our sample. However, gender and role of religion modified
Effects of chronic social defeat on social behaviors in adult female mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus): Involvement of the oxytocin system in the nucleus accumbens.

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Wang, Limin; Hou, Wenjuan; He, Zhixiong; Yuan, Wei; Yang, Jinfeng; Yang, Yang; Jia, Rui; Zhu, Zhenxiang; Zhou, Yue; Tai, Fadao

2018-03-02

Chronic social defeat affects many aspects of behavior. Most previous studies have focused on effects on males and defeat during adolescence. The extents to which chronic social defeat can impact female social behavior in adulthood and the neural mechanisms of such effects are poorly understood. Using highly social and aggressive female mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus), the present study found that chronic social defeat reduced social preference in adult females, and that the defeated voles exhibited a high level of freeze, self-grooming and defensive behavior, as well as reduced exploration, intimacy and aggression during social interactions. Furthermore, chronic social defeat reduced levels of oxytocin (OT) and OT receptors (OTR) in the shell region of the nucleus accumbens (NACC). Intra-NACC shell OT microinjections reversed alterations in social behavior induced by chronic social defeat, whereas injections of an OTR antagonist (OTR-A) blocked the effects of OT. Taken together, our data demonstrate that chronic social defeat suppresses measures of sociability, and that these effects are mediated by the action of OT on the OTR in the NACC. NACC OT may be a promising target to treat socio-emotional disorders induced by chronic social stress. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Endogenous vasopressin, innate anxiety, and the emission of pro-social 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations during social play behavior in juvenile rats.

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Lukas, Michael; Wöhr, Markus

2015-06-01

Although the involvement of the neuropeptide arginine vasopressin (AVP) in rodent social interaction is already extensively characterized, little is known about its role in social communication. Rats communicate in the ultrasonic range by means of ultrasonic vocalizations (USV). Depending on developmental stage and affective state, rats emit various distinct types of USV, with appetitive 50-kHz USV being induced by positive social interactions, like juvenile social play, probably serving an affiliative communicative function, namely to (re)establish or induce social proximity. In rats and mice selectively bred for low (LAB) and high (HAB) anxiety-related behavior, the emission of isolation-induced distress USV during maternal deprivation as pups correlates with innate high levels of hypothalamic AVP availability. Moreover, male LAB and HAB rats express deficits in social approach towards conspecifics, together with high and/or abnormal forms of aggression when confronted with harmless opponents, possibly due to a lack of social communication skills. The aim of this study was therefore (1) to investigate and characterize social play behavior and concomitant pro-social 50-kHz USV emission in male and female, juvenile LAB and HAB rats and to compare them to non-selected Wistar (NAB) rats; and (2) to link these findings pharmacologically to the central AVP system via applying an AVP 1a receptor (V1aR) antagonist (0.75 μg; Manning compound) or synthetic AVP (1 ng) into the lateral ventricle of male juvenile NAB rats. Our results show that reduced social play behavior in highly anxious male and female, juvenile HAB rats is accompanied by low amounts of pro-social 50-kHz USV, as compared to respective LAB and NAB rats, possibly reflecting a lack of positive affective states in expectation of or following social interactions in these individuals. Secondly, although synthetic AVP did not alter social play behavior and pro-social 50-kHz USV, we demonstrated for the first
Human, Social, Cultural Behavior (HSCB) Modeling Workshop I: Characterizing the Capability Needs for HSCB Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

2008-07-01

The expectations correspond to different roles individuals perform SocialConstructionis Social constructionism is a school of thought Peter L...HUMAN, SOCIAL , CULTURAL BEHAVIOR (HSCB) MODELING WORKSHOP I: CHARACTERIZING THE CAPABILITY NEEDS FOR HSCB MODELING FINAL REPORT... Social , Cultural Behavior (HSCB) Modeling Workshop I: Characterizing the Capability Needs for HSCB Modeling 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c
Measuring Changes in Social Communication Behaviors: Preliminary Development of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC).

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Grzadzinski, Rebecca; Carr, Themba; Colombi, Costanza; McGuire, Kelly; Dufek, Sarah; Pickles, Andrew; Lord, Catherine

2016-07-01

Psychometric properties and initial validity of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC), a measure of treatment-response for social-communication behaviors, are described. The BOSCC coding scheme is applied to 177 video observations of 56 young children with ASD and minimal language abilities. The BOSCC has high to excellent inter-rater and test-retest reliability and shows convergent validity with measures of language and communication skills. The BOSCC Core total demonstrates statistically significant amounts of change over time compared to a no change alternative while the ADOS CSS over the same period of time did not. This work is a first step in the development of a novel outcome measure for social-communication behaviors with applications to clinical trials and longitudinal studies.
The Influence of Social Networking Technologies on Female Religious Veil-Wearing Behavior in Iran

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Shakiba, Abbas; Kwok, Justin; Montazeri, Mohammad Sadegh

2014-01-01

Abstract Social networking technologies can influence attitudes, behaviors, and social norms. Research on this topic has been conducted primarily among early adopters of technology and within the United States. However, it is important to evaluate how social media might affect people's behaviors in international settings, especially among countries with longstanding, government recommended, cultural and religious traditions and behaviors, such as Iran. This study seeks to assess whether Iranian women who have been using social networking technologies for a longer time (compared to those who have recently joined) would be less likely to cover themselves with a veil and be more comfortable publicly displaying pictures of this behavior on Facebook. Iranian females (N=253) were selected through snowball sampling from nongovernmental organizations in November 2011 and asked to complete a survey assessing their use of Facebook, concerns about not wearing a veil in Facebook pictures, and their actual likelihood of wearing a veil. Items were combined to measure lack of interest in wearing a veil. Length of time as a Facebook user was significantly associated with not wearing a veil (b=0.16, pbehavior of wearing a veil (b=−0.45, pSocial networking technologies can affect attitudes and behaviors internationally. We discuss methods of using social media for self-presentation and expression, as well as the difficulties (and importance) of studying use of technologies, such as social media, internationally. PMID:24611768
Maternal and littermate deprivation disrupts maternal behavior and social-learning of food preference in adulthood: tactile stimulation, nest odor, and social rearing prevent these effects.

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Melo, Angel I; Lovic, Vedran; Gonzalez, Andrea; Madden, Melissa; Sinopoli, Katia; Fleming, Alison S

2006-04-01

Maternal and littermate (social) separation, through artificial rearing (AR), disrupts the development of subsequent maternal behavior and social learning in rats. The addition of maternal-licking-like stimulation during AR, partially reverses some of these effects. However, little is know about the role of social stimuli from littermates and nest odors during the preweaning period, in the development of the adult maternal behavior and social learning. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of peer- and peer-and-odor rearing on the development of maternal behavior and social learning in rats. Female pups were reared with mothers (mother reared-MR) or without mothers (AR) from postnatal day (PND) 3. AR rats received three different treatments: (1) AR-CONTROL group received minimal tactile stimulation, (2) AR-ODOR females received exposure to maternal nest material inside the AR-isolation-cup environment, (3) AR-SOCIAL group was reared in the cup with maternal nest material and a conspecific of the same-age and same-sex and received additional tactile stimulation. MR females were reared by their mothers in the nest and with conspecifics. In adulthood, rats were tested for maternal behavior towards their own pups and in a social learning task. Results confirm our previous report that AR impairs performance of maternal behavior and the development of a social food preference. Furthermore, social cues from a littermate, in combination with tactile stimulation and the nest odor, reversed the negative effects of complete isolation (AR-CONTROL) on some of the above behaviors. Exposure to the odor alone also had effects on some of these olfactory-mediated behaviors. These studies indicate that social stimulation from littermates during the preweaning period, in combination with odor from the nest and tactile stimulation, contributes to the development of affiliative behaviors. Copyright (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Do You Have Anything to Hide? Infidelity-Related Behaviors on Social Media Sites and Marital Satisfaction.

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McDaniel, Brandon T; Drouin, Michelle; Cravens, Jaclyn D

2017-01-01

Social media provides one route to behaviors that may be potentially harmful to romantic relationships, such as communicating with alternative partners, which can sometimes create relationship conflict, breakups, or divorce. Limited empirical evidence exists concerning social media infidelity-related behaviors and marital relationships. This study examined whether married/cohabiting individuals are using social media sites to engage in online infidelity-related behaviors and to what extent this related to relationship satisfaction, ambivalence, and relational attachment characteristics as reported by 338 married/cohabiting individuals from 176 families. Only a small percentage of married/cohabiting couples reported engaging in social media infidelity-related behaviors; however, more engagement in infidelity-related behaviors on social media was significantly related to lower relationship satisfaction, higher relationship ambivalence, and greater attachment avoidance and anxiety in both women and men. Additionally, attachment anxiety and gender interacted with relationship satisfaction in predicting online infidelity-related behaviors when controlling for other variables. Implications are discussed.
Rapid behavioral and genomic responses to social opportunity.

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Sabrina S Burmeister

2005-11-01

Full Text Available From primates to bees, social status regulates reproduction. In the cichlid fish Astatotilapia (Haplochromis burtoni, subordinate males have reduced fertility and must become dominant to reproduce. This increase in sexual capacity is orchestrated by neurons in the preoptic area, which enlarge in response to dominance and increase expression of gonadotropin-releasing hormone 1 (GnRH1, a peptide critical for reproduction. Using a novel behavioral paradigm, we show for the first time that subordinate males can become dominant within minutes of an opportunity to do so, displaying dramatic changes in body coloration and behavior. We also found that social opportunity induced expression of the immediate-early gene egr-1 in the anterior preoptic area, peaking in regions with high densities of GnRH1 neurons, and not in brain regions that express the related peptides GnRH2 and GnRH3. This genomic response did not occur in stable subordinate or stable dominant males even though stable dominants, like ascending males, displayed dominance behaviors. Moreover, egr-1 in the optic tectum and the cerebellum was similarly induced in all experimental groups, showing that egr-1 induction in the anterior preoptic area of ascending males was specific to this brain region. Because egr-1 codes for a transcription factor important in neural plasticity, induction of egr-1 in the anterior preoptic area by social opportunity could be an early trigger in the molecular cascade that culminates in enhanced fertility and other long-term physiological changes associated with dominance.
The role of the hippocampus in flexible cognition and social behavior

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Rachael D Rubin

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Successful behavior requires actively acquiring and representing information about the environment and people, and manipulating and using those acquired representations flexibly to optimally act in and on the world. The frontal lobes have figured prominently in most accounts of flexible or goal-directed behavior, as evidenced by often-reported behavioral inflexibility in individuals with frontal lobe dysfunction. Here, we propose that the hippocampus also plays a critical role by forming and reconstructing relational memory representations that underlie flexible cognition and social behavior. There is mounting evidence that damage to the hippocampus can produce inflexible and maladaptive behavior when such behavior places high demands on the generation, recombination, and flexible use of information. This is seen in abilities as diverse as memory, navigation, exploration, imagination, creativity, decision-making, character judgments, establishing and maintaining social bonds, empathy, social discourse, and language use. Thus, the hippocampus, together with its extensive interconnections with other neural systems, supports the flexible use of information in general. Further, we suggest that this understanding has important clinical implications. Hippocampal abnormalities can produce profound deficits in real-world situations, which typically place high demands on the flexible use of information, but are not always obvious on diagnostic tools tuned to frontal lobe function. This review documents the role of the hippocampus in supporting flexible representations and aims to expand our understanding of the dynamic networks that operate as we move through and create meaning of our world.
The role of the hippocampus in flexible cognition and social behavior.

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Rubin, Rachael D; Watson, Patrick D; Duff, Melissa C; Cohen, Neal J

2014-01-01

Successful behavior requires actively acquiring and representing information about the environment and people, and manipulating and using those acquired representations flexibly to optimally act in and on the world. The frontal lobes have figured prominently in most accounts of flexible or goal-directed behavior, as evidenced by often-reported behavioral inflexibility in individuals with frontal lobe dysfunction. Here, we propose that the hippocampus also plays a critical role by forming and reconstructing relational memory representations that underlie flexible cognition and social behavior. There is mounting evidence that damage to the hippocampus can produce inflexible and maladaptive behavior when such behavior places high demands on the generation, recombination, and flexible use of information. This is seen in abilities as diverse as memory, navigation, exploration, imagination, creativity, decision-making, character judgments, establishing and maintaining social bonds, empathy, social discourse, and language use. Thus, the hippocampus, together with its extensive interconnections with other neural systems, supports the flexible use of information in general. Further, we suggest that this understanding has important clinical implications. Hippocampal abnormalities can produce profound deficits in real-world situations, which typically place high demands on the flexible use of information, but are not always obvious on diagnostic tools tuned to frontal lobe function. This review documents the role of the hippocampus in supporting flexible representations and aims to expand our understanding of the dynamic networks that operate as we move through and create meaning of our world.
Prospective associations between prosocial behavior and social dominance in early childhood: are sharers the best leaders?

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Ostrov, Jamie M; Guzzo, Jamie L

2015-01-01

A short-term longitudinal study during early childhood (N = 96; M = 42.80; SD = 7.57) investigated the concurrent and prospective association between prosocial behavior and social dominance. Time-intensive school-based focal child sampling with continuous recording observations of prosocial behavior to peers were conducted and teacher-reports of social dominance were collected. The study documents significant prospective links between prosocial behavior to peers and increases in social dominance over time. Social dominance was not associated with changes in prosocial behavior. The findings extend past empirical work in early childhood and future directions are discussed.
Variation in nesting behavior of eight species of spider mites, Stigmaeopsis having sociality

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Saito, Yutaka; Zhang, Yan-Xuan; Mori, Kotaro; Ito, Katsura; Sato, Yukie; Chittenden, Anthony R.; Lin, Jian-Zhen; Chae, Younghae; Sakagami, Takane; Sahara, Ken

2016-10-01

Nesting behavior is considered to be an important element of social living in animals. The spider mites belonging to the genus Stigmaeopsis spend their lives within nests produced from silk threads. Several of these species show cooperative sociality, while the others are subsocial. In order to identify the origins of this social behavior, comparisons of nest sizes, nesting behaviors (making nests continuously or separately), and their associated traits (fecal deposition patterns) were made for eight cogeneric Stigmaeopsis species showing various levels of social development. All of these species inhabit bamboo plants (Poaceae). We initially addressed the proximate factor of nest size variation. The variation in nest size of the eight species corresponded well with the variation in dorsal seta sc1 length, suggesting that nest size variation among species may have a genetic basis. The time spent within a nest (nest duration) increased with nest size on the respective host plants. Nest arrangement patterns varied among species showing different sized nests: Large nest builders continuously extended their nests, while middle and small nest-building species built new separate nests, which resulted in different social interaction times among species, and is thought to be closely related to social development. Fecal deposition behaviors also varied among Stigmaeopsis species, suggesting diversity in anti-predatory adaptations. Finally, we discuss how the variation in sociality observed within this genus is likely the result of nest size variation that initially evolved as anti-predator strategies.
Effects of chronic social stress and maternal intranasal oxytocin and vasopressin on offspring interferon γ and behavior

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Chris Anthony Murgatroyd

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Recent studies support the hypothesis that the adverse effects of early life adversity and transgenerational stress on neural plasticity and behavior are mediated by inflammation. The objective of the present study was to investigate the immune and behavioural programming effects of intranasal (IN vasopressin (AVP and oxytocin (OXT treatment of chronic social stress (CSS exposed F1 dams on F2 juvenile female offspring. It was hypothesized that maternal AVP and OXT treatment would have preventative effects on social stress induced deficits in offspring anxiety and social behavior, and that these effects would be associated with changes in interferon γ (IFNγ. Control and CSS exposed F1 dams were administered IN saline, AVP, or OXT during lactation and the F2 juvenile female offspring were assessed for basal plasma IFNγ and perseverative, anxiety, and social behavior. CSS F2 female juvenile offspring had elevated IFNγ levels and exhibited increased repetitive/perseverative and anxiety behaviours and deficits in social behavior. These effects were modulated by AVP and OXT in a context and behavior dependent manner, with OXT exhibiting preventative effects on repetitive and anxiety behaviours and AVP possessing preventative effects on social behavior deficits and anxiety. Basal IFNγ levels were elevated in the F2 offspring of OXT treated F1 dams, but IFNγ was not correlated with the behavioural effects. These results support the hypothesis that maternal AVP and OXT treatment have context and behavior specific effects on peripheral IFNγ levels and perseverative, anxiety, and social behaviours in the female offspring of early life social stress exposed dams. Both maternal AVP and OXT are effective at preventing social stress induced increases in self-directed measures of anxiety, and AVP is particularly effective at preventing impairments in overall social contact. Oxytocin is specifically effective at preventing repetitive
Investigating Teachers' Approval and Disapproval Behaviors Towards Academic and Social Behaviors of Students with and without Special Needs

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Sazak-Pinar, Elif; Guner-Yildiz, Nevin

2013-01-01

The present study was designed to (a) investigate teachers' approval and disapproval behaviors towards academic and social behaviors of students in mainstreaming classrooms and (b) determine whether or not having special needs be a predictor of teachers' approval and disapproval behaviors. The study group consisted of 43 teachers who were working…
Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health: Tips for Social Distancing, Quarantine, and Isolation

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· Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health: TIPS FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING, QUARANTINE, AND ISOLATION DURING AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE OUTBREAK What Is Social Distancing? Social distancing is a way to keep people ...
Disentangling the Relations between Social Identity and Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Competitive Youth Sport.

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Bruner, Mark W; Boardley, Ian D; Benson, Alex J; Wilson, Kathleen S; Root, Zachary; Turnnidge, Jennifer; Sutcliffe, Jordan; Côté, Jean

2018-05-01

The social identities formed through membership on extracurricular activity groups may contribute to the frequency with which youth engage in prosocial and antisocial behavior. However, researchers have yet to disentangle the individual- and group-level processes social identification effects operate through; sex and perceived norms may also moderate such effects. Thus, we investigated the hierarchical and conditional relations between three dimensions of social identity (i.e., ingroup ties, cognitive centrality, ingroup affect) and prosocial and antisocial behavior in youth ice hockey players (N = 376; 33% female). Multilevel analyses demonstrated antisocial teammate and opponent behavior were predicted by cognitive centrality at the team level. Further, prosocial teammate behavior was predicted by cognitive centrality and ingroup ties at the individual-level. Also, perceived norms for prosocial teammate behavior moderated the relations between ingroup ties, cognitive centrality, and ingroup affect and prosocial teammate behaviour. Finally, sex moderated the relations between cognitive centrality/ingroup affect and antisocial opponent behavior. This work demonstrates the multilevel and conditional nature of how social identity dimensions relate to youth prosocial and antisocial behavior.
Administrative Behaviors and Emotional and Social Competences of Higher Education Administrators: A Cross-Cultural Study

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Osman Ferda BEYTEKİN

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, higher education administrators, administrative behaviors; as educator, leader and manager, emotional competency; as self awareness and self management and social competency; as social awareness and social skills were compared according to two different cultures. The data was collected by inventories from 165 educators, and head of the departments Istanbul, and Helsinki Universities in 2008-2009 educational year. Elkins' administrative behaviors of higher education administrators inventory and Goleman's emotional and social competence inventory were conducted to test the differences. The manager behaviors of Istanbul University administrators are significantly higher than University of Helsinki administrators. The emotional competences of University of Helsinki administrators are significantly higher than the administrators of Istanbul University in the dimensions of self-awareness, self management, emotional selfcontrol, achievement orientation and positive outlook. The social competencies of University of Helsinki administrators are significantly higher than the administrators of Istanbul University in the dimensions of social awareness, empathy, and conflict management. On the other hand, the social competencies of Istanbul University administrators are significantly higher than the administrators of University of Helsinki in the dimensions of organizational awareness, coach and mentor, influence and teamwork. There is a significant positive relationship between the leadership behaviors and emotional and social competencies administrators in both Istanbul University and University of Helsinki. Significant differences are found between faculties and administrators about the administrative behaviors and emotional and social competences of administrators both at İstanbul University and University of Helsinki.
Contrasting Roles of Dopamine and Noradrenaline in the Motivational Properties of Social Play Behavior in Rats.

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Achterberg, E J Marijke; van Kerkhof, Linda W M; Servadio, Michela; van Swieten, Maaike M H; Houwing, Danielle J; Aalderink, Mandy; Driel, Nina V; Trezza, Viviana; Vanderschuren, Louk J M J

2016-02-01

Social play behavior, abundant in the young of most mammalian species, is thought to be important for social and cognitive development. Social play is highly rewarding, and as such, the expression of social play depends on its pleasurable and motivational properties. Since the motivational properties of social play have only sporadically been investigated, we developed a setup in which rats responded for social play under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. Dopaminergic neurotransmission plays a key role in incentive motivational processes, and both dopamine and noradrenaline have been implicated in the modulation of social play behavior. Therefore, we investigated the role of dopamine and noradrenaline in the motivation for social play. Treatment with the psychostimulant drugs methylphenidate and cocaine increased responding for social play, but suppressed its expression during reinforced play periods. The dopamine reuptake inhibitor GBR-12909 increased responding for social play, but did not affect its expression, whereas the noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor atomoxetine decreased responding for social play as well as its expression. The effects of methylphenidate and cocaine on responding for social play, but not their play-suppressant effects, were blocked by pretreatment with the dopamine receptor antagonist α-flupenthixol. In contrast, pretreatment with the α2-adrenoceptor antagonist RX821002 prevented the play-suppressant effect of methylphenidate, but left its effect on responding for social play unaltered. In sum, the present study introduces a novel method to study the incentive motivational properties of social play behavior in rats. Using this paradigm, we demonstrate dissociable roles for dopamine and noradrenaline in social play behavior: dopamine stimulates the motivation for social play, whereas noradrenaline negatively modulates the motivation for social play behavior and its expression.
Sensory Systems and Environmental Change on Behavior during Social Interactions

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S. M. Bierbower

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The impact of environmental conditions for transmitting sensory cues and the ability of crayfish to utilize olfaction and vision were examined in regards to social interactive behavior. The duration and intensity of interactions were examined for conspecific crayfish with different sensory abilities. Normally, vision and chemosensory have roles in agonistic communication of Procambarus clarkii; however, for the blind cave crayfish (Orconectes australis packardi, that lack visual capabilities, olfaction is assumed to be the primary sensory modality. To test this, we paired conspecifics in water and out of water in the presence and absence of white light to examine interactive behaviors when these various sensory modalities are altered. For sighted crayfish, in white light, interactions occurred and escalated; however, when the water was removed, interactions and aggressiveness decreased, but, there was an increase in visual displays out of the water. The loss of olfaction abilities for blind cave and sighted crayfish produced fewer social interactions. The importance of environmental conditions is illustrated for social interactions among sighted and blind crayfish. Importantly, this study shows the relevance in the ecological arena in nature for species survival and how environmental changes disrupt innate behaviors.

The Perspectives to Understand Social Marketing as an Approach in Influencing Consumer Behavior for Good

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Iin Mayasari

2012-05-01

Full Text Available This study is a conceptual paper and highlights perspectives to understand social marketing as an approach to bring about voluntary and socially desirable consumer behavior. The perspective is considered as an alternative way to comprehend consumer behavior change for good as a multi-factor driven action. Hence, social marketing is also considered as a discipline that can be analyzed from multiple perspectives including a behavioral change perspective and a relationship perspective. Each perspective is elaborated by doing a review of existing literature and research. This study shows that social marketing is not only the application of marketing programs to shape consumer behavior, but also a process involving individual, society, and government to make a better life of society.
Social behavior and autism traits in a sex chromosomal disorder : Klinefelter (47XXY) syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Rijn, Sophie; Swaab, Hanna; Aleman, Andre; Kahn, Rene S.

2008-01-01

Although Klinefelter syndrome (47,XXY) has been associated with psychosocial difficulties, knowledge of the social behavioral phenotype is limited. We examined specific social abilities and autism traits in Klinefelter syndrome. Scores of 31 XXY men on the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior and the
Effortful Control and Parents' Emotion Socialization Patterns Predict Children's Positive Social Behavior: A Person-Centered Approach

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Miller, Rachel L.; Dunsmore, Julie C.; Smith, Cynthia L.

2015-01-01

Research Findings: We examined relations of effortful control with parent emotion socialization practices and child social behavior using a person-centered approach in children ages 18 months to 5 years. A total of 76 parents (66 mothers, 10 fathers) completed questionnaires at screening and 6-month follow-up. There were no age differences in…
Living Up to the Code's Exhortations? Social Workers' Political Knowledge Sources, Expectations, and Behaviors.

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Felderhoff, Brandi Jean; Hoefer, Richard; Watson, Larry Dan

2016-01-01

The National Association of Social Workers' (NASW's) Code of Ethics urges social workers to engage in political action. However, little recent research has been conducted to examine whether social workers support this admonition and the extent to which they actually engage in politics. The authors gathered data from a survey of social workers in Austin, Texas, to address three questions. First, because keeping informed about government and political news is an important basis for action, the authors asked what sources of knowledge social workers use. Second, they asked what the respondents believe are appropriate political behaviors for other social workers and NASW. Third, they asked for self-reports regarding respondents' own political behaviors. Results indicate that social workers use the Internet and traditional media services to stay informed; expect other social workers and NASW to be active; and are, overall, more active than the general public in many types of political activities. The comparisons made between expectations for others and their own behaviors are interesting in their complex outcomes. Social workers should strive for higher levels of adherence to the code's urgings on political activity. Implications for future work are discussed.
[Social marketing--seduction with the aim of healthy behavior?].

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Loss, J; Nagel, E

2010-01-01

SOCIAL MARKETING - SEDUCTION WITH THE AIM OF HEALTHY BEHAVIOR? Social marketing is the use of marketing principles to design and implement programs that promote socially beneficial behaviour change. Contrary to the marketing of consumption goods, social marketing does not deal with material products, but with behaviour, e. g. not smoking. This 'product' has a basic benefit (i. e. reduction of health risks in the long run), which is, however, difficult to convey. Therefore, the intended change in behaviour has to be related to a further reward which consists of symbolic goods, e. g. social appreciation or a better body feeling. The communication policy is essential for information on and motivation for the preventive issue. Social marketing campaigns whose development and management follow the principles of classical marketing can render preventive efforts more effective. In addition, social marketing can lead to a better quality management as compared to conventional preventive activities. These advantages can be explained by a) tailoring the campaign more specifically to the target group's needs and motives, b) presenting health risks more convincingly, and c) continuously analysing and evaluating the campaign and its effects. On the other hand, the marketing of preventive aims through mass media can bear several risks, as exemplified by different national and international public health campaigns. The necessity to communicate briefly and succinctly can lead to misleading simplifications and, in case of cancer screening, to the trivialization of a behaviour's consequences and adverse effects. Also, many campaigns do not intend to educate and inform, but try to persuade target persons of a certain behaviour, using emotions such as fear. This has led to social marketing being criticized as manipulation. Sometimes, social marketing campaigns cause stigma and discrimination of certain population subgroups, e. g. obese or HIV-positive people. Health promoters who plan
The influence of social networking technologies on female religious veil-wearing behavior in Iran.

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Young, Sean D; Shakiba, Abbas; Kwok, Justin; Montazeri, Mohammad Sadegh

2014-05-01

Abstract Social networking technologies can influence attitudes, behaviors, and social norms. Research on this topic has been conducted primarily among early adopters of technology and within the United States. However, it is important to evaluate how social media might affect people's behaviors in international settings, especially among countries with longstanding, government recommended, cultural and religious traditions and behaviors, such as Iran. This study seeks to assess whether Iranian women who have been using social networking technologies for a longer time (compared to those who have recently joined) would be less likely to cover themselves with a veil and be more comfortable publicly displaying pictures of this behavior on Facebook. Iranian females (N=253) were selected through snowball sampling from nongovernmental organizations in November 2011 and asked to complete a survey assessing their use of Facebook, concerns about not wearing a veil in Facebook pictures, and their actual likelihood of wearing a veil. Items were combined to measure lack of interest in wearing a veil. Length of time as a Facebook user was significantly associated with not wearing a veil (b=0.16, peducation, and frequency of using Facebook. Results also revealed a significant relationship such that older people were more likely to adhere to the religious behavior of wearing a veil (b=-0.45, ptechnologies can affect attitudes and behaviors internationally. We discuss methods of using social media for self-presentation and expression, as well as the difficulties (and importance) of studying use of technologies, such as social media, internationally.
Attention biases to threat and behavioral inhibition in early childhood shape adolescent social withdrawal.

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Pérez-Edgar, Koraly; Bar-Haim, Yair; McDermott, Jennifer Martin; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Pine, Daniel S; Fox, Nathan A

2010-06-01

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperament characterized in young children by a heightened sensitivity to novelty, social withdrawal, and anxious behaviors. For many children, these social difficulties dissipate over time. For others, patterns of social withdrawal continue into adolescence. Over time, attention biases to threat may influence the stability of BI and its association with social withdrawal, ultimately modulating the risk for anxiety disorders in BI children. However, we know relatively little about the cognitive processes that accompany BI and shape later socio-emotional functioning. We examined the relations among BI in childhood, attention biases to threat in adolescence, and adolescent social withdrawal in a longitudinal study (N = 126, Mean age = 15 years). As has been reported in anxious adults, adolescents who were behaviorally inhibited as toddlers and young children showed heightened attention bias to threat. In addition, attention bias to threat moderated the relation between childhood BI and adolescent social withdrawal.
Towards a balanced social psychology: causes, consequences, and cures for the problem-seeking approach to social behavior and cognition.

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Krueger, Joachim I; Funder, David C

2004-06-01

Mainstream social psychology focuses on how people characteristically violate norms of action through social misbehaviors such as conformity with false majority judgments, destructive obedience, and failures to help those in need. Likewise, they are seen to violate norms of reasoning through cognitive errors such as misuse of social information, self-enhancement, and an over-readiness to attribute dispositional characteristics. The causes of this negative research emphasis include the apparent informativeness of norm violation, the status of good behavior and judgment as unconfirmable null hypotheses, and the allure of counter-intuitive findings. The shortcomings of this orientation include frequently erroneous imputations of error, findings of mutually contradictory errors, incoherent interpretations of error, an inability to explain the sources of behavioral or cognitive achievement, and the inhibition of generalized theory. Possible remedies include increased attention to the complete range of behavior and judgmental accomplishment, analytic reforms emphasizing effect sizes and Bayesian inference, and a theoretical paradigm able to account for both the sources of accomplishment and of error. A more balanced social psychology would yield not only a more positive view of human nature, but also an improved understanding of the bases of good behavior and accurate judgment, coherent explanations of occasional lapses, and theoretically grounded suggestions for improvement.
Gateway Political Behaviors: The Frequency and Consequences of Low-Cost Political Engagement on Social Media

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Leticia Bode

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to determine to what extent engagement in easy political behaviors on social media occurs across the range of political interest, what predicts such engagement, and what effect such engagement may have on other political behaviors. It pits the idea that social media may activate the politically uninterested against the idea that social media is just another outlet for the politically interested to demonstrate their engagement. Analyzing survey data collected by the Pew Research Center, it concludes that many people, including the politically uninterested, do engage in easy political behaviors like liking and commenting on political content on social media. When they do, it can lead to greater political activity offline. However, those most likely to engage in easy political behaviors are also those who engage in harder political behaviors, offering support for both the interest and activation hypotheses.
Dynamic behavior of a social model for opinion formation

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Bordogna, Clelia M.; Albano, Ezequiel V.

2007-12-01

The dynamic behavior of a social group influenced by both a strong leader and the mass media, which is modeled according to the social impact theory, is studied under two situations: (i) The strong leader changes his/her state of opinion periodically while the mass media are not considered. In this case, the leader is capable of driving the group between a dynamically ordered state with a weak leader-group coupling (high-frequency regime) and a dynamically disordered state where the group follows the opinion of the leader (low-frequency regime). (ii) The mass-media change periodically their message and have to compete with a strong leader that keeps his/her state of opinion unchanged. In this case, the mass media require an amplitude threshold in order to overcome the influence of the leader and drive the system into a dynamically disordered state. The dynamic behavior characteristic of the studied social opinion model shares many features of physical systems that are relevant in the fields of statistical mechanics and condensed matter.
The effect of video feedback on the social behavior of an adolescent with ADHD.

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Sibley, Margaret H; Pelham, William E; Mazur, Amy; Gnagy, Elizabeth M; Ross, J Megan; Kuriyan, Aparajita B

2012-10-01

The social functioning of adolescents with ADHD is characteristically impaired, yet almost no interventions effectively address the peer relationships of these youth. This study evaluates the preliminary effects of a video-feedback intervention on the social behavior of a 16-year-old male with ADHD-combined type in the context of a summer treatment program for youth with ADHD. The intervention was administered in a teen-run business meeting designed to mimic the context of group-based activities such as student government, service clubs, and group projects. During each video-feedback session, the adolescent viewed a 5-min clip of his behavior in the previous business meeting, rated the appropriateness of his own social behavior in each 30-s interval, and discussed behavior with a summer program counselor. Results indicated that while the video-feedback intervention was in place, the adolescent displayed improvements in social behavior from baseline. Results also indicated that the adolescent exhibited relatively accurate self-perceptions during the intervention period. The authors present preliminary evidence for cross-contextual and cross-temporal generalization. The results of this study and future directions for intervention development are discussed in the context of the broader conversation about how to treat social impairment in adolescents with ADHD.
Generations in Analysis of Costumer Behaviors: A Study On Social Media Using

OpenAIRE

Sarıtaş, Emel; Barutçu, Süleyman

2016-01-01

In this study, generation concept is analyzed and social media was investigated by level of use varies according to generation in terms of marketing management and consumer behavior. The face to face survey conducted on 397 people from different generation. According to results; X-Y-Z generation that important tool grouping customer behavior, don’t show great difference for the purpose of social media, especially disappear difference “start communication, share the content, entertainment”. Ho...
Assessing Social Competence and Behavior Problems in a Sample of Italian Preschoolers Using the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale

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Sette, Stefania; Baumgartner, Emma; MacKinnon, David P.

2015-01-01

Research Findings: The main goals of this study were to examine the factor validity of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation (SCBE-30) scale using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis and to test factor invariance across gender in a sample of Italian preschool-age children (241 boys, 252 girls). The concurrent…
Group colocation behavior in technological social networks.

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Chloë Brown

Full Text Available We analyze two large datasets from technological networks with location and social data: user location records from an online location-based social networking service, and anonymized telecommunications data from a European cellphone operator, in order to investigate the differences between individual and group behavior with respect to physical location. We discover agreements between the two datasets: firstly, that individuals are more likely to meet with one friend at a place they have not visited before, but tend to meet at familiar locations when with a larger group. We also find that groups of individuals are more likely to meet at places that their other friends have visited, and that the type of a place strongly affects the propensity for groups to meet there. These differences between group and solo mobility has potential technological applications, for example, in venue recommendation in location-based social networks.
Extended effect of chronic social defeat stress in childhood on behaviors in adulthood.

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Irina L Kovalenko

Full Text Available Individuals exposed to social stress in childhood are more predisposed to developing psychoemotional disorders in adulthood. Here we use an animal model to determine the influence of hostile social environment in adolescence on behavior during adult life. One-month-old adolescent male mice were placed for 2 weeks in a common cage with an adult aggressive male. Animals were separated by a transparent perforated partition, but the adolescent male was exposed daily to short attacks from the adult male. After exposure to social stress, some of the adolescent mice were placed for 3 weeks in comfortable conditions. Following this rest period, stressed young males and adult males were studied in a range of behavioral tests to evaluate the levels of anxiety, depressiveness, and communicativeness with an unfamiliar partner. In addition, adult mice exposed to social stress in adolescence were engaged in agonistic interactions. We found that 2 weeks of social stress result in a decrease of communicativeness in the home cage and diminished social interactions on the novel territory. Stressed adolescents demonstrated a high level of anxiety in the elevated plus-maze test and helplessness in the Porsolt test. Furthermore, the number of dividing (BrdU-positive cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus was significantly lower in stressed adolescents. After 3 weeks of rest, most behavioral characteristics in different tests, as well as the number of BrdU-positive cells in the hippocampus, did not differ from those of the respective control mice. However, the level of anxiety remained high in adult males exposed to chronic social stress in childhood. Furthermore, these males were more aggressive in the agonistic interactions. Thus, hostile social environment in adolescence disturbs psychoemotional state and social behaviors of animals in adult life.
Extended Effect of Chronic Social Defeat Stress in Childhood on Behaviors in Adulthood

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Kovalenko, Irina L.; Galyamina, Anna G.; Smagin, Dmitry A.; Michurina, Tatyana V.; Kudryavtseva, Natalia N.; Enikolopov, Grigori

2014-01-01

Individuals exposed to social stress in childhood are more predisposed to developing psychoemotional disorders in adulthood. Here we use an animal model to determine the influence of hostile social environment in adolescence on behavior during adult life. One-month-old adolescent male mice were placed for 2 weeks in a common cage with an adult aggressive male. Animals were separated by a transparent perforated partition, but the adolescent male was exposed daily to short attacks from the adult male. After exposure to social stress, some of the adolescent mice were placed for 3 weeks in comfortable conditions. Following this rest period, stressed young males and adult males were studied in a range of behavioral tests to evaluate the levels of anxiety, depressiveness, and communicativeness with an unfamiliar partner. In addition, adult mice exposed to social stress in adolescence were engaged in agonistic interactions. We found that 2 weeks of social stress result in a decrease of communicativeness in the home cage and diminished social interactions on the novel territory. Stressed adolescents demonstrated a high level of anxiety in the elevated plus-maze test and helplessness in the Porsolt test. Furthermore, the number of dividing (BrdU-positive) cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus was significantly lower in stressed adolescents. After 3 weeks of rest, most behavioral characteristics in different tests, as well as the number of BrdU-positive cells in the hippocampus, did not differ from those of the respective control mice. However, the level of anxiety remained high in adult males exposed to chronic social stress in childhood. Furthermore, these males were more aggressive in the agonistic interactions. Thus, hostile social environment in adolescence disturbs psychoemotional state and social behaviors of animals in adult life. PMID:24667609
Experimental Evidence that Social Relationships Determine Individual Foraging Behavior

OpenAIRE

Firth, Josh A.; Voelkl, Bernhard; Farine, Damien R.; Sheldon, Ben C.

2015-01-01

Social relationships are fundamental to animals living in complex societies [1-3]. The extent to which individuals base their decisions around their key social relationships, and the consequences this has on their behavior and broader population level processes, remains unknown. Using a novel experiment that controlled where individual wild birds (great tits, Parus major) could access food, we restricted mated pairs from being allowed to forage at the same locations. This introduced a conflic...
Increased rigidity with age in social behavior of Java-monkeys (Macaca fascicularis)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Veenema, H.C.; Hooff, van J.A.R.A.M.; Gispen, W.H.; Spruijt, B.M.

2001-01-01

In this study we investigated the effect of aging on the structure of behavior of socially housed Java-monkeys. Indices of the sequential structure of an animal's own ongoing behavior and of its responses to behavior of other animals were calculated using an information statistic approach. These
Genomic Analysis of Genotype-by-Social Environment Interaction for Drosophila melanogaster Aggressive Behavior.

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Rohde, Palle Duun; Gaertner, Bryn; Ward, Kirsty; Sørensen, Peter; Mackay, Trudy F C

2017-08-01

Human psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder often include adverse behaviors including increased aggressiveness. Individuals with psychiatric disorders often exhibit social withdrawal, which can further increase the probability of conducting a violent act. Here, we used the inbred, sequenced lines of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) to investigate the genetic basis of variation in male aggressive behavior for flies reared in a socialized and socially isolated environment. We identified genetic variation for aggressive behavior, as well as significant genotype-by-social environmental interaction (GSEI); i.e. , variation among DGRP genotypes in the degree to which social isolation affected aggression. We performed genome-wide association (GWA) analyses to identify genetic variants associated with aggression within each environment. We used genomic prediction to partition genetic variants into gene ontology (GO) terms and constituent genes, and identified GO terms and genes with high prediction accuracies in both social environments and for GSEI. The top predictive GO terms significantly increased the proportion of variance explained, compared to prediction models based on all segregating variants. We performed genomic prediction across environments, and identified genes in common between the social environments that turned out to be enriched for genome-wide associated variants. A large proportion of the associated genes have previously been associated with aggressive behavior in Drosophila and mice. Further, many of these genes have human orthologs that have been associated with neurological disorders, indicating partially shared genetic mechanisms underlying aggression in animal models and human psychiatric disorders. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.
The Influence of Rurality and Parental Affect on Kindergarten Children's Social and Behavioral Functioning

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Sheridan, Susan M.; Koziol, Natalie A.; Clarke, Brandy L.; Rispoli, Kristin M.; Coutts, Michael J.

2014-01-01

Research Findings: Children's early academic achievement is supported by positive social and behavioral skills, and difficulties with these skills frequently gives way to underachievement. Social and behavioral problems often arise as a product of parent-child interactional patterns and environmental influences. Few studies have examined the role…

Perceived social support buffers the impact of PTSD symptoms on suicidal behavior: implications into suicide resilience research.

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Panagioti, M; Gooding, P A; Taylor, P J; Tarrier, N

2014-01-01

A growing body of research has highlighted the importance of identifying resilience factors against suicidal behavior. However, no previous study has investigated potential resilience factors among individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The aim of this study was to examine whether perceived social support buffered the impact of PTSD symptoms on suicidal behavior. Fifty-six individuals who had previously been exposed to a traumatic event and reported PTSD symptoms in the past month (n = 34, 60.7% participants met the full criteria for a current PTSD diagnosis) completed a range of self-report measures assessing PTSD symptoms, perceived social support and suicidal behavior. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine whether perceived social support moderates the effects of PTSD symptoms on suicidal behavior. The results showed that perceived social support moderated the impact of the number and severity of PTSD symptoms on suicidal behavior. For those who perceived themselves as having high levels of social support, an increased number and severity of PTSD symptoms were less likely to lead to suicidal behavior. The current findings suggest that perceived social support might confer resilience to individuals with PTSD and counter the development of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The milieu of social support potentially provides an area of further research and an important aspect to incorporate into clinical interventions for suicidal behavior in PTSD or trauma populations. © 2013.
Oxytocin, stress and social behavior: neurogenetics of the human oxytocin system.

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Kumsta, Robert; Heinrichs, Markus

2013-02-01

The neuropeptide oxytocin has had key roles throughout mammalian evolution in the regulation of complex social cognition and behaviors, such as attachment, parental care, pair-bonding, as well as social exploration and recognition. Recently, studies have begun to provide evidence that the function of this neuropeptide is impaired in mental disorders associated with social deficits. In this review, we focus on the genetic mechanisms of inter-individual variation in the social neuropeptide signaling. We discuss molecular genetic studies which identified variations in specific genes contributing to individual differences in social behavior and cognition, with a focus on the gene coding for the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) emerging as a particularly promising candidate. We conclude that molecular studies are warranted to elucidate functional consequences of variants that have shown stable associations with sociobehavioral phenotypes. With regard to the variability in individual responses to oxytocin administration, we advocate the need for pharmacogenetic approaches in order to test how the efficacy of oxytocin administration is modulated by genetic variation of OXTR or other genes involved in oxytocin signaling. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
When does "economic man" dominate social behavior?

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Camerer, Colin F; Fehr, Ernst

2006-01-06

The canonical model in economics considers people to be rational and self-regarding. However, much evidence challenges this view, raising the question of when "Economic Man" dominates the outcome of social interactions, and when bounded rationality or other-regarding preferences dominate. Here we show that strategic incentives are the key to answering this question. A minority of self-regarding individuals can trigger a "noncooperative" aggregate outcome if their behavior generates incentives for the majority of other-regarding individuals to mimic the minority's behavior. Likewise, a minority of other-regarding individuals can generate a "cooperative" aggregate outcome if their behavior generates incentives for a majority of self-regarding people to behave cooperatively. Similarly, in strategic games, aggregate outcomes can be either far from or close to Nash equilibrium if players with high degrees of strategic thinking mimic or erase the effects of others who do very little strategic thinking. Recently developed theories of other-regarding preferences and bounded rationality explain these findings and provide better predictions of actual aggregate behavior than does traditional economic theory.
Bipolar disorder affects behavior and social skills on the Internet.

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Martini, Thaís; Czepielewski, Letícia Sanguinetti; Fijtman, Adam; Sodré, Leonardo; Wollenhaupt-Aguiar, Bianca; Pereira, Caroline Silveira; Vianna-Sulzbach, Mireia; Goi, Pedro D; Rosa, Adriane Ribeiro; Kapczinski, Flavio; Kunz, Maurício; Kauer-Sant'anna, Marcia

2013-01-01

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a significant cause of functional, cognitive, and social impairment. However, classic studies of functioning and social skills have not investigated how BD may impact behavior on the Internet. Given that the digital age has been changing the way people communicate, this study aims to investigate the pattern of Internet use in patients with BD. This cross-sectional study assessed 30 patients with BD I or II and 30 matched controls. Patients were not in an acute mood episode, according to DSM-IV. A standard protocol examined sociodemographic variables and social behavior on the Internet, assessed by Facebook number of friends (FBN) and lifetime estimated number of offline contacts (social network number, SNN). SNN (pInternet use were significantly lower in patients, e.g., close contacts on Facebook (p = 0.021), Internet experience (p = 0.020), and knowledge of terms associated with social networking sites (p = 0.042). Also, patients showed lower rates of the expected pattern of Internet use (based on their age generation), including a poorer knowledge of SNS (p = 0.018) and a lower frequency of Internet use (p = 0.010). This study suggests that patients with BD show smaller social networks both in real-world settings and on the Internet. Also, patients tend to use the Internet and social networking sites less frequently and show a poorer knowledge of Internet and social media than healthy controls, below the expected for their generation. These significant differences between patients and controls suggest that the effects of BD on social relationships and functioning extend to electronic media.
Social Class and Group Size as Predictors of Behavior in Male Equus kiang

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prameek M. Kannan

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Ethograms provide a systematic approach to identify and quantify the repertoire of behaviors of an organism. This information may assist animal welfare in zoos, increase awareness of conservation needs, and help curb high-risk behaviors during human-wildlife conflict. Our primary objective was to utilize an equid ethogram to produce activity budgets for Equus kiang males, a social ungulate that is among the least-studied mammals worldwide, and unknown to the ethological literature. We recently reported the existence of three social classes of this species; Territorial males, Bachelor males and ‘Transient’ males. Therefore, our secondary objective was to compare activity budgets in each of these three groups. We found that kiang spent >70% of their time performing six behaviors: vigilance (34%, locomotion (24.2%, resting (14.2%, mixed foraging (12.5%, browsing (5.1%, and antagonism (1.1%. Over 2% of the total behavioral investment was spent on olfactory investigations (genital sniffing, sniffing proximity and flehmen. Eleven of the eighteen behaviors differed by class. Habitat selection differed strongly by each group, with Territorial males favoring mesic sites with greater vegetation abundance. Vigilance also differed according to habitat selection, but not group size. Animals in the xeric, least vegetation-rich area were far less vigilant than animals at more attractive sites. We found that the full repertoire of behaviors, and relative investments in each, differ according to social class. These findings are a reminder that researchers should make every effort to disambiguate social class among ungulates– and other taxa where behaviors are class-dependent.
Analysis of Online Social Networks to Understand Information Sharing Behaviors Through Social Cognitive Theory.

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Yoon, Hong-Jun; Tourassi, Georgia

2014-05-01

Analyzing the contents of online social networks is an effective process for monitoring and understanding peoples' behaviors. Since the nature of conversation and information propagation is similar to traditional conversation and learning, one of the popular socio-cognitive methods, social cognitive theory was applied to online social networks to. Two major news topics about colon cancer were chosen to monitor traffic of Twitter messages. The activity of "leaders" on the issue (i.e., news companies or people will prior Twitter activity on topics related to colon cancer) was monitored. In addition, the activity of "followers", people who never discussed the topics before, but replied to the discussions was also monitored. Topics that produce tangible benefits such as positive outcomes from appropriate preventive actions received dramatically more attention and online social media traffic. Such characteristics can be explained with social cognitive theory and thus present opportunities for effective health campaigns.
Bilateral neurotoxic amygdala lesions in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): Consistent pattern of behavior across different social contexts

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Machado, Christopher J.; Emery, Nathan J.; Capitanio, John P.; Mason, William A.; Mendoza, Sally P.; Amaral, David G.

2010-01-01

Although the amygdala has been repeatedly implicated in normal primate social behavior, great variability exists in the specific social and nonsocial behavioral changes observed after bilateral amygdala lesions in nonhuman primates. One plausible explanation pertains to differences in social context. To investigate this idea, we measured the social behavior of amygdala-lesioned and unoperated rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in two contexts. Animals interacted in four-member social groups over 32 test days. These animals were previously assessed in pairs (Emery et al., 2001), and were, therefore, familiar with each other at the beginning of this study. Across the two contexts, amygdala lesions produced a highly consistent pattern of social behavior. Operated animals engaged in more affiliative social interactions with control group partners than did control animals. In the course of their interactions, amygdala-lesioned animals also displayed an earlier decrease in nervous and fearful personality qualities than controls. The increased exploration and sexual behavior recorded for amygdala-lesioned animals in pairs was not found in the four-member groups. We conclude that the amygdala contributes to social inhibition and this function transcends various social contexts. PMID:18410164
Perceived impact of socially anxious behaviors on individuals' lives in Western and East Asian countries.

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Rapee, Ronald M; Kim, Jinkwan; Wang, Jianping; Liu, Xinghua; Hofmann, Stefan G; Chen, Junwen; Oh, Kyung Ya; Bögels, Susan M; Arman, Soroor; Heinrichs, Nina; Alden, Lynn E

2011-09-01

The current study compared the predicted social and career impact of socially withdrawn and reticent behaviors among participants from Western and East Asian countries. Three hundred sixty-one college students from 5 Western countries and 455 students from 3 East Asian countries read hypothetical vignettes describing socially withdrawn and shy behaviors versus socially outgoing and confident behaviors. Participants then answered questions following each vignette indicating the extent to which they would expect the subject of the vignette to be socially liked and to succeed in their career. Participants also completed measures of their own social anxiety and quality of life. The results indicated significant vignette-by-country interactions in that the difference in perceived social and career impact between shy and outgoing vignettes was smaller among participants from East Asian countries than from Western countries. In addition, significant negative correlations were shown between personal level of shyness and experienced quality of life for participants from both groups of countries, but the size of this relationship was greater for participants from Western than East Asian countries. The results point to the more negative impact of withdrawn and socially reticent behaviors for people from Western countries relative to those from East Asia. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
The role of mesocorticolimbic dopamine in regulating interactions between drugs of abuse and social behavior.

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Young, Kimberly A; Gobrogge, Kyle L; Wang, Zuoxin

2011-01-01

The use of addictive drugs can have profound short- and long-term consequences on social behaviors. Similarly, social experiences and the presence or absence of social attachments during early development and throughout life can greatly influence drug intake and the susceptibility to drug abuse. The following review details this reciprocal interaction, focusing on common drugs of abuse (e.g., psychostimulants, opiates, alcohol and nicotine) and social behaviors (e.g., maternal, sexual, play, aggressive and bonding behaviors). The neural mechanisms underlying this interaction are discussed, with a particular emphasis on the involvement of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The effect of negative experiences on delinquent behavior of youth in a social withdrawal situation.

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Chan, Gloria Hongyee; Lo, T Wing

2016-07-01

This study examines the relationship between negative experiences, negative emotions, and delinquent behavior among young people in a social withdrawal situation. There were 533 participants in this study and various quantitative analyses were utilized. Results showed that participants with a longer period of social withdrawal were generally less affected by negative experiences, while those with a higher level of social withdrawal were more affected by negative experiences, particularly negative relationships with other people. Also, both negative emotions and higher level of social withdrawal mediated the relationship between negative experiences and involvement in delinquent behavior, with negative emotions displaying a higher mediating effect. This reflects that the root of delinquent behavior is the negative experiences which arouse negative emotions, rather than the social withdrawal behavior itself. Results imply that practitioners should first explore the negative experiences suffered by these young people, so as to provide them the most appropriate support. Copyright © 2016 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Substance use and sexual risk behaviors among Peruvian MSM social media users.

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Young, Sean D; Nianogo, Roch A; Chiu, ChingChe J; Menacho, Lucho; Galea, Jerome

2016-01-01

Peru is experiencing a concentrated HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM). Substance use (alcohol and drug use) has been found to be associated with HIV-related sexual risk behaviors. A recent surge in the number of social media users in Peru has enabled these technologies to be potential tools for reaching HIV at-risk individuals. This study sought to assess the relationship between substance use and sexual risk behaviors among Peruvian MSM who use social media. A total of 556 Peruvian MSM Facebook users (ages 18-59) were recruited to complete a 92-item survey on demographics, sexual risk behaviors, and substance use. We performed a logistic regression of various sexual risk behaviors (e.g., unprotected sex, casual sex) on substance abuse, including alcohol, adjusting for potential covariates. Drinking more than five alcoholic drinks a day in the past three months was associated with an increased odds of having unprotected sex (vaginal and anal) (aOR: 1.52; 95% CL: 1.01, 2.28), casual sex (1.75; 1.17, 2.62), and sex with unknown persons (1.82; 1.23, 2.71). Drug use was not significantly associated with sexual risk behaviors. Among Peruvian MSM social media users, findings suggest that alcohol use was associated with increased HIV-related sexual risk behaviors.
Effects of social isolation, re-socialization and age on cognitive and aggressive behaviors of Kunming mice and BALB/c mice.

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An, Dong; Chen, Wei; Yu, De-Qin; Wang, Shi-Wei; Yu, Wei-Zhi; Xu, Hong; Wang, Dong-Mei; Zhao, Dan; Sun, Yi-Ping; Wu, Jun-Cheng; Tang, Yi-Yuan; Yin, Sheng-Ming

2017-05-01

Both Kunming (KM) mice and BALB/c mice have been widely used as rodent models to investigate stress-associated mental diseases. However, little is known about the different behaviors of KM mice and BALB/c mice after social isolation, particularly cognitive and aggressive behaviors. In this study, the behaviors of KM and BALB/c mice isolated for 2, 4 and 8 weeks and age-matched controls were evaluated using object recognition, object location and resident-intruder tests. The recovery of behavioral deficits by re-socialization was also examined for the isolated mice in adolescence. Our study showed that isolation for 2, 4 and 8 weeks led to cognitive deficits and increased aggressiveness for both KM and BALB/c mice. An important finding is that re-socialization could completely recover spatial/non-spatial cognitive deficits resulted from social isolation for both KM and BALB/c mice. In addition, age only impacted aggressiveness of KM mice. Moreover, isolation duration showed different impacts on cognitive and aggressive behaviors for both KM and BALB/c mice. Furthermore, BALB/c mice showed weak spatial/non-spatial memory and low aggressiveness when they were at the same age and isolation duration, compared to KM mice. In conclusion, KM mice and BALB/c mice behaved characteristically under physiology and isolation conditions. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.
Coordination: Neural, Behavioral and Social Dynamics

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Fuchs, Armin

2008-01-01

One of the most striking features of Coordination Dynamics is its interdisciplinary character. The problems we are trying to solve in this field range from behavioral phenomena of interlimb coordination and coordination between stimuli and movements (perception-action tasks) through neural activation patterns that can be observed during these tasks to clinical applications and social behavior. It is not surprising that close collaboration among scientists from different fields as psychology, kinesiology, neurology and even physics are imperative to deal with the enormous difficulties we are facing when we try to understand a system as complex as the human brain. The chapters in this volume are not simply write-ups of the lectures given by the experts at the meeting but are written in a way that they give sufficient introductory information to be comprehensible and useful for all interested scientists and students.
Assessing the Social Skills and Problem Behaviors of Adolescents With Severe Disabilities Enrolled in General Education Classes.

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Lyons, Gregory L; Huber, Heartley B; Carter, Erik W; Chen, Rui; Asmus, Jennifer M

2016-07-01

Although enhancing the social competence of students with severe disabilities has long remained a prominent focus of school-based intervention efforts, relatively little attention has focused on identifying the most critical social and behavioral needs of students during high school. We examined the social skills and problem behaviors of 137 adolescents with severe disabilities from the vantage point of both special educators and parents. We sought to identify areas of potential intervention need, explore factors associated with social skill and problem behavior ratings, and examine the extent to which teachers and parents converged in their assessments of these needs. Our findings indicate teachers and parents of high school students with severe disabilities rated social skills as considerably below average and problem behaviors as above average. In addition, lower social skills ratings were evident for students with greater support needs, lower levels of overall adaptive behavior, and a special education label of autism. We found moderate consistency in the degree to which teachers and parents aligned in their assessments of both social skills and problem behavior. We offer recommendations for assessment and intervention focused on strengthening the social competence of adolescents with severe disabilities within secondary school classrooms, as well as promising avenues for future research.
Chronic fluoxetine treatment induces anxiolytic responses and altered social behaviors in medaka, Oryzias latipes.

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Ansai, Satoshi; Hosokawa, Hiroshi; Maegawa, Shingo; Kinoshita, Masato

2016-04-15

Medaka (Oryzias latipes) is a small freshwater teleost that is an emerging model system for neurobehavioral research and toxicological testing. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class of antidepressants such as fluoxetine is one of the widely prescribed drugs, but little is known about the effects of these drugs on medaka behaviors. To assess the behavioral effects of fluoxetine, we chronically administrated fluoxetine to medaka adult fish and analyzed the anxiety-related and social behaviors using five behavioral paradigms (diving, open-field, light-dark transition, mirror-biting, and social interaction) with an automated behavioral testing system. Fish chronically treated with fluoxetine exhibited anxiolytic responses such as an overall increased time spent in the top area in the diving test and an increased time spent in center area in the open-field test. Analysis of socially evoked behavior showed that chronic fluoxetine administration decreased the number of mirror biting times in the mirror-biting test and increased latency to first contact in the social interaction test. Additionally, chronic fluoxetine administration reduced the horizontal locomotor activity in the open-field test but not the vertical activity in the diving test. These investigations are mostly consistent with previous reports in the other teleost species and rodent models. These results indicate that behavioral assessment in medaka adult fish will become useful for screening of effects of pharmaceutical and toxicological compounds in animal behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Measuring Changes in Social Communication Behaviors: Preliminary Development of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC)

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Grzadzinski, Rebecca; Carr, Themba; Colombi, Costanza; McGuire, Kelly; Dufek, Sarah; Pickles, Andrew; Lord, Catherine

2016-01-01

Psychometric properties and initial validity of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC), a measure of treatment-response for social-communication behaviors, are described. The BOSCC coding scheme is applied to 177 video observations of 56 young children with ASD and minimal language abilities. The BOSCC has high to excellent…
Evidence of social network influence on multiple HIV risk behaviors and normative beliefs among young Tanzanian men.

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Mulawa, Marta; Yamanis, Thespina J; Hill, Lauren M; Balvanz, Peter; Kajula, Lusajo J; Maman, Suzanne

2016-03-01

Research on network-level influences on HIV risk behaviors among young men in sub-Saharan Africa is severely lacking. One significant gap in the literature that may provide direction for future research with this population is understanding the degree to which various HIV risk behaviors and normative beliefs cluster within men's social networks. Such research may help us understand which HIV-related norms and behaviors have the greatest potential to be changed through social influence. Additionally, few network-based studies have described the structure of social networks of young men in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the structure of men's peer networks may motivate future research examining the ways in which network structures shape the spread of information, adoption of norms, and diffusion of behaviors. We contribute to filling these gaps by using social network analysis and multilevel modeling to describe a unique dataset of mostly young men (n = 1249 men and 242 women) nested within 59 urban social networks in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We examine the means, ranges, and clustering of men's HIV-related normative beliefs and behaviors. Networks in this urban setting varied substantially in both composition and structure and a large proportion of men engaged in risky behaviors including inconsistent condom use, sexual partner concurrency, and intimate partner violence perpetration. We found significant clustering of normative beliefs and risk behaviors within these men's social networks. Specifically, network membership explained between 5.78 and 7.17% of variance in men's normative beliefs and between 1.93 and 15.79% of variance in risk behaviors. Our results suggest that social networks are important socialization sites for young men and may influence the adoption of norms and behaviors. We conclude by calling for more research on men's social networks in Sub-Saharan Africa and map out several areas of future inquiry. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All
Social cues-customer behavior relationship : the mediating role of emotions and cognition

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Nusairat, NM; Akhorshaideh, AHO; Rashid, T; Sahadev, S; Rembielak, G

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the effect of social cues in a mall’s shopping environment on customer behavior. Two competing mediation scenarios are assessed: emotion-cognition and cognition-emotion in a stimulus-organism-response (SOR)-based framework. Although the role of social cues in driving customer behavior in shopping contexts is largely addressed in the extant literature, the mechanism of the effect is still under-researched area and this study is an attempt to fill this gap.\\ud The concep...
Social Stairs : taking the Piano Staircase towards long-term behavioral change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peeters, M.M.R.; Megens, C.J.P.G.; Hoven, van den E.A.W.H.; Hummels, C.C.M.; Brombacher, A.C.; Berkovsky, S.; Freyne, J.

2013-01-01

This paper addresses the development of Social Stairs, an intelligent musical staircase to change people’s behavior in the long-term to take the stairs in favor of the elevator. Through designing with the Experiential Design Landscape (EDL) method, a design opportunity was found that social
How Does Gender Relate to Social Skills? Exploring Differences in Social Skills Mindsets, Academics, and Behaviors among High-School Freshmen Students

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Tan, Kevin; Oe, Jin Shin; Hoang Le, Minh Dung

2018-01-01

Boys struggle academically and behaviorally more than girls and are more likely to have difficulty with social skills. It seems likely that boys and girls do not perceive social skills in the same light. Past research has not investigated this or its relationship to academic and behavioral performance. Using data from a cohort of 9th-grade…

Encoded exposure to tobacco use in social media predicts subsequent smoking behavior.

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Depue, Jacob B; Southwell, Brian G; Betzner, Anne E; Walsh, Barbara M

2015-01-01

Assessing the potential link between smoking behavior and exposure to mass media depictions of smoking on social networking Web sites. A representative longitudinal panel of 200 young adults in Connecticut. Telephone surveys were conducted by using computer assisted telephone interviewing technology and electronic dialing for random digit dialing and listed samples. Connecticut residents aged 18 to 24 years. To measure encoded exposure, respondents were asked whether or not they had smoked a cigarette in the past 30 days and about how often they had seen tobacco use on television, in movies, and in social media content. Respondents were also asked about cigarette use in the past 30 days, and a series of additional questions that have been shown to be predictive of tobacco use. Logistic regression was used to test for our main prediction that reported exposure to social media tobacco depictions at time 1 would influence time 2 smoking behavior. Encoded exposure to social media tobacco depictions (B = .47, p media depictions of tobacco use predict future smoking tendency, over and above the influence of TV and movie depictions of smoking. This is the first known study to specifically assess the role of social media in informing tobacco behavior.
Social Interaction Behavior in ADHD in Adults in a Virtual Trust Game.

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Lis, Stefanie; Baer, Nina; Franzen, Nele; Hagenhoff, Meike; Gerlach, Maika; Koppe, Georgia; Sammer, Gebhard; Gallhofer, Bernd; Kirsch, Peter

2016-04-01

Social cognitive functions in adults with ADHD were investigated in a virtual social exchange game. The sample consisted of 40 participants (20 adult ADHD participants, 20 healthy controls). Participants played a multiround trust game with virtual trustees who differed in regard to fairness and presence of emotional facial cues. Investments were higher in ADHD participants than in healthy participants except for partners who played fair with constant neutral expressions. ADHD patients did not adapt their behavior to the fairness of the trustee. In the presence of emotional facial cues, ADHD and healthy participants transferred more monetary units to happy rather than angry-looking trustees. Differences in investment behavior were not linked to deficits in emotion-recognition abilities or cognitive dysfunctions. Alterations in interaction behavior and in the formation of a general attitude toward social partners could be shown in adults with ADHD. © The Author(s) 2013.
Health goal priming as a situated intervention tool: how to benefit from nonconscious motivational routes to health behaviour.

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Papies, Esther K

2016-12-01

Recent research has shown the limited effects of intentions on behaviour, so that novel methods to facilitate behaviour change are needed that do not rely on conscious intentions. Here, it is argued that nonintentional effects on health behaviour, such as the effects of habits, impulses, and nonconscious goals, occur through the activation of cognitive structures by specific situations. Interventions should therefore be situated to change these effects, either by changing the critical cognitive structures (training interventions), or by changing which cognitive structures get activated (cueing interventions). The current article presents this framework for situated interventions, as well as examples of interventions of each type. Then, it introduces goal priming as a cueing intervention tool to activate health goals and thus facilitate healthier behaviour, even in tempting situations that typically activate short-term hedonic goals. Following a review of empirical evidence, five principles for the effective application of health goal primes are proposed, namely (1) to target individuals who value the primed goals, (2) by activating their specific motivation, (3) through effective cues (4) that attract attention at the right time. Finally, (5) an effective goal-directed behaviour needs to be known and accessible to the primed individual. These principles are illustrated with examples of different health behaviours in order to facilitate their application for successful behaviour change.
ANABOLIC STEROIDS HAVE LONG-LASTING EFFECTS ON MALE SOCIAL BEHAVIORS

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Salas-Ramirez, Kaliris Y.; Montalto, Pamela R.; Sisk, Cheryl L.

2010-01-01

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) use by adolescents is steadily increasing. Adolescence involves remodeling of steroid-sensitive neural circuits that mediate social behaviors, and previous studies using animal models document effects of AAS on male social behaviors. The present experiments tested whether AAS have persistent and more pronounced behavioral consequences when drug exposure occurs during adolescence as compared to exposure in adulthood. Male Syrian hamsters were injected daily for 14 days with either vehicle or an AAS cocktail containing testosterone cypionate (2 mg/kg), nandrolone decanoate (2 mg/kg), and boldenone undecylenate (1 mg/kg), either during adolescence (27-41 days of age) or adulthood (63-77 days of age). As adults, subjects were tested two or four weeks after the last injection for either sexual behavior with a receptive female or male-male agonistic behavior in a resident-intruder test. Compared with vehicle-treated males, AAS-treated males, regardless of age of treatment, displayed fewer long intromissions and a significant increase in latency to the first long intromission, indicative of reduced potential to reach sexual satiety. Increased aggression was observed in males exposed to AAS compared with males treated with vehicle, independently of age of AAS treatment. However, unlike hamsters exposed to AAS in adulthood, hamsters exposed to AAS during adolescence did not display any submissive or risk-assessment behaviors up to 4 weeks after discontinuation of AAS treatment. Thus, AAS have long-lasting effects on male sexual and agonistic behaviors, with AAS exposure during adolescence resulting in a more pronounced reduction in submissive behavior compared to AAS exposure in adulthood. PMID:20036695
Who's Who in the Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Norman, Colin

1983-01-01

Faculty members in social/behavioral science programs at the Universities of Chicago and California at Berkeley have been given the highest overall "grades" for quality by their academic peers in a survey published by the National Academy of Sciences. Includes scores for anthropology, geography, history, political science, psychology and sociology…
The social image of food: Associations between popularity and eating behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

König, Laura M; Giese, Helge; Stok, F Marijn; Renner, Britta

2017-07-01

One factor that determines what we eat and why we eat is our social environment. In the present research, two online studies examined the relationship between food intake and social images. Specifically, the present research assessed the relationship between the food intake university students ascribed to peers who varied in popularity and own self-reported food intake, and whether this relationship was moderated by identification with the peer group. Participants (N = 97 in Study 1; N = 402 in Study 2) were randomly presented with one of four (Study 1) or two of eight (Study 2) vignettes describing a popular or unpopular student (male or female) from their university without receiving any information about the peer's eating behavior. Subsequently, healthy and unhealthy eating ascribed to the peers and own self-reported eating behavior were assessed. Results indicated that popular peers were perceived to eat more healthily than unpopular peers. Moreover, eating behavior ascribed to popular peers were associated with own healthy and unhealthy eating. Importantly, the relationship between healthy eating behavior ascribed to popular peers and own healthy eating behavior was moderated by identification with the student group - the more participants identified with their peers, the more their own eating was aligned with the healthy eating ascribed to a popular peer. Hence, the popularity of others seems to shape perceptions of the food they eat and may facilitate healthy eating via social influence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Development and validation of an instrument to assess perceived social influence on health behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

HOLT, CHERYL L.; CLARK, EDDIE M.; ROTH, DAVID L.; CROWTHER, MARTHA; KOHLER, CONNIE; FOUAD, MONA; FOUSHEE, RUSTY; LEE, PATRICIA A.; SOUTHWARD, PENNY L.

2012-01-01

Assessment of social influence on health behavior is often approached through a situational context. The current study adapted an existing, theory-based instrument from another content domain to assess Perceived Social Influence on Health Behavior (PSI-HB) among African Americans, using an individual difference approach. The adapted instrument was found to have high internal reliability (α = .81–.84) and acceptable testretest reliability (r = .68–.85). A measurement model revealed a three-factor structure and supported the theoretical underpinnings. Scores were predictive of health behaviors, particularly among women. Future research using the new instrument may have applied value assessing social influence in the context of health interventions. PMID:20522506
Social Orientation: Problem Behavior and Motivations Toward Interpersonal Problem Solving Among High Risk Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Kuperminc, Gabriel P.; Allen, Joseph P.

2006-01-01

A model of problematic adolescent behavior that expands current theories of social skill deficits in delinquent behavior to consider both social skills and orientation toward the use of adaptive skills was examined in an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 113 male and female adolescents. Adolescents were selected on the basis of moderate to serious risk for difficulties in social adaptation in order to focus on the population of youth most likely to be targeted by prevention efforts. Structural equation modeling was used to examine cross-sectional data using multiple informants (adolescents, peers, and parents) and multiple methods (performance test and self-report). Adolescent social orientation, as reflected in perceived problem solving effectiveness, identification with adult prosocial values, and self-efficacy expectations, exhibited a direct association to delinquent behavior and an indirect association to drug involvement mediated by demonstrated success in using problem solving skills. Results suggest that the utility of social skill theories of adolescent problem behaviors for informing preventive and remedial interventions can be enhanced by expanding them to consider adolescents’ orientation toward using the skills they may already possess. PMID:16929380
Effects of Social Support About Physical Activity on Social Networking Sites: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ni; Campo, Shelly; Yang, Jingzhen; Janz, Kathleen F; Snetselaar, Linda G; Eckler, Petya

2015-01-01

Despite the physical and mental health benefits of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), only about half of college students participate in the recommended amount of LTPA. While college students are avid users of social network sites (SNSs), whether SNSs would be an effective channel for promoting LTPA through peer social support is unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of social support from students' contacts on SNSs on their intention to participate in LTPA, applying the Theory of Planned Behavior. Participants were recruited through a mass e-mail sent to undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university in fall 2011. In total, 439 surveys were analyzed. Descriptive analyses and analysis for mediating effects were conducted. Social support about LTPA from contacts on SNSs has indirect effect on intention through affective attitude, instrumental attitude, and perceived behavioral control (PBC). The results indicate that social support about LTPA from contacts on SNSs might not be effective to change students' intention unless attitudes and PBC are changed. Future interventions aiming to promote students' intention to participate in LTPA by increasing support from contacts on SNSs should increase affective attitude, instrumental attitude, and PBC at the same time.
Utilization of Superheroes Social Skills to Reduce Disruptive and Aggressive Behavior

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O'Handley, Roderick D.; Radley, Keith C.; Cavell, Hannah J.

2016-01-01

The current pilot study investigated the effectiveness of the Superheroes Social Skills program in decreasing disruptive and aggressive behavior of elementary-age students with high-incidence disabilities. Six students in a self-contained classroom, identified as displaying high rates of disruptive and aggressive behavior toward peers, were…
Informatics to support the IOM social and behavioral domains and measures.

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Hripcsak, George; Forrest, Christopher B; Brennan, Patricia Flatley; Stead, William W

2015-07-01

Consistent collection and use of social and behavioral determinants of health can improve clinical care, prevention and general health, patient satisfaction, research, and public health. A recent Institute of Medicine committee defined a panel of 11 domains and 12 measures to be included in electronic health records. Incorporating the panel into practice creates a number of informatics research opportunities as well as challenges. The informatics issues revolve around standardization, efficient collection and review, decision support, and support for research. The informatics community can aid the effort by simultaneously optimizing the collection of the selected measures while also partnering with social science researchers to develop and validate new sources of information about social and behavioral determinants of health. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Social Behavior and Autism Traits in a Sex Chromosomal Disorder: Klinefelter (47XXY) Syndrome

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van Rijn, Sophie; Swaab, Hanna; Aleman, Andre; Kahn, Rene S.

2008-01-01

Although Klinefelter syndrome (47,XXY) has been associated with psychosocial difficulties, knowledge of the social behavioral phenotype is limited. We examined specific social abilities and autism traits in Klinefelter syndrome. Scores of 31 XXY men on the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior and the Autism Spectrum Questionnaire were compared to 24…
Attention Biases to Threat Link Behavioral Inhibition to Social Withdrawal over Time in Very Young Children

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Perez-Edgar, Koraly; Reeb-Sutherland, Bethany C.; McDermott, Jennifer Martin; White, Lauren K.; Henderson, Heather A.; Degnan, Kathryn A.; Hane, Amie A.; Pine, Daniel S.; Fox, Nathan A.

2011-01-01

Behaviorally inhibited children display a temperamental profile characterized by social withdrawal and anxious behaviors. Previous research, focused largely on adolescents, suggests that attention biases to threat may sustain high levels of behavioral inhibition (BI) over time, helping link early temperament to social outcomes. However, no prior…
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR IN INFANCY--SOME DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES AND PROBLEMS.

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RICCIUTI, HENRY N.

INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR IN HUMAN INFANCY HAVE RAISED MANY RESEARCH ISSUES AND HAVE INDICATED MANY ADDITIONAL AREAS OF INQUIRY. EARLY AND CONTEMPORARY STUDIES HAVE BOTH BEEN CONCERNED WITH PROVIDING MORE PRECISE ANALYSES OF STIMULUS AND SITUATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL…
The effects of social defeat on behavior and dopaminergic markers in mice.

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Jin, H-M; Shrestha Muna, S; Bagalkot, T R; Cui, Y; Yadav, B K; Chung, Y-C

2015-03-12

The present study investigated the effects of chronic social defeat stress on several behavioral parameters, and the expression of dopaminergic markers, i.e., dopamine D1 receptors (D1Rs), dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs), and dopamine and cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate-regulated phosphoprotein-32 (DARPP-32), in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), amygdala (AMY), and hippocampus (HIP) of mouse brains. After 10days of social defeat stress, the defeated mice were divided into two groups: one group underwent a series of behavioral tests. The other group was sacrificed on the 11th day and tissue samples were collected for Western blotting. The behavioral tests comprised tests of locomotion, light/dark preference, social interaction, as well as the novel object recognition test (NORT), Morris water maze, and forced swimming test (FST). We measured the expression of D1Rs, D2Rs, total DARPP-32, phospho-Thr34 or Thr75-DARPP-32 using Western blotting. The defeated mice showed increased anxiety- and depression-like behaviors, and impaired cognition. No significant differences in D1Rs and D2Rs expression were shown between defeated and control mice in any area studied. A significantly increased expression in total DARPP-32, and phospho-DARPP-32 was observed in the PFC or AMY of defeated mice. These data suggest that alterations in dopaminergic markers may be involved in anxiety- and depression-like behaviors, and cognitive impairment induced by social defeat stress. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Fathers' challenging parenting behavior prevents social anxiety development in their 4-year-old children: a longitudinal observational study.

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Majdandžić, Mirjana; Möller, Eline L; de Vente, Wieke; Bögels, Susan M; van den Boom, Dymphna C

2014-02-01

Recent models on parenting propose different roles for fathers and mothers in the development of child anxiety. Specifically, it is suggested that fathers' challenging parenting behavior, in which the child is playfully encouraged to push her limits, buffers against child anxiety. In this longitudinal study, we explored whether the effect of challenging parenting on children's social anxiety differed between fathers and mothers. Fathers and mothers from 94 families were separately observed with their two children (44 % girls), aged 2 and 4 years at Time 1, in three structured situations involving one puzzle task and two games. Overinvolved and challenging parenting behavior were coded. Child social anxiety was measured by observing the child's response to a stranger at Time 1, and half a year later at Time 2, and by parental ratings. In line with predictions, father's challenging parenting behavior predicted less subsequent observed social anxiety of the 4-year-old child. Mothers' challenging behavior, however, predicted more observed social anxiety of the 4-year-old. Parents' overinvolvement at Time 1 did not predict change in observed social anxiety of the 4-year-old child. For the 2-year-old child, maternal and paternal parenting behavior did not predict subsequent social anxiety, but early social anxiety marginally did. Parent-rated social anxiety was predicted by previous parental ratings of social anxiety, and not by parenting behavior. Challenging parenting behavior appears to have favorable effects on observed 4-year-old's social anxiety when displayed by the father. Challenging parenting behavior emerges as an important focus for future research and interventions.
[Effect of the capacity of emotion management on the social anxiety and aggressive behavior among 4 -6 grade pupils].

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Yao, Rongying; Chen, Jun; Zhang, Qin; Peng, Wenjia; Fu, Lianguo

2015-03-01

To explore the effect of emotion management ability on the social anxiety and aggressive behavior among 4 - 6 grade pupils. The grade four, five and six pupils from Bengbu City were investigated using stratified cluster random sampling. The questionnaire contents included general condition, emotion management ability, aggressive behavior and social anxiety, and the relationships of which were analyzed using partial correlation and hierarchical regression method. The score of aggressive behavior in boys (72. 74 ± 18. 09) was higher than that in girls (66. 31 ± 17. 53) (P behaviors in grade five students (71. 76 ± 18. 06) were higher than that in grade four (69. 24 ± 18. 95) and six students (68. 40 ± 17. 19) (P behaviors were negatively correlated with emotion management ability (r = - 0. 463, P social anxiety (r = 0. 229, P social anxiety ( r = - 0. 234, P social anxiety and aggressive behavior (P social anxiety and aggressive behavior in 4 - 6 grade pupils. Improving the emotion management abilities can reduce their social anxieties and aggressive behaviors.
The Costly Consequences of not Being Socially and Behaviorally Ready to Learn by Kindergarten in Baltimore City.

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Bettencourt, Amie F; Gross, Deborah; Ho, Grace; Perrin, Nancy

2018-02-01

Social, emotional, and behavioral skills are foundational to learning and long-term success. However, poverty and exposure to adverse childhood experiences reduce the chances of children entering kindergarten socially-behaviorally ready to learn. This study examined the unique impact of 5-year-old children (N = 11,412) entering kindergarten not socially-behaviorally ready on three costly school outcomes by fourth grade in Baltimore City Public Schools: being retained in grade, receiving services and supports through an IEP or 504 plan, and being suspended/expelled. Controlling for all other types of school readiness, students not identified as socially-behaviorally ready for kindergarten were more likely to experience all three school outcomes. Findings underscore the importance of early prevention and intervention strategies targeting parents and social-behavioral readiness skills during the first 5 years of life.
Promoting social behavior with oxytocin in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders

OpenAIRE

Andari, Elissar; Duhamel, Jean-René; Zalla, Tiziana; Herbrecht, Evelyn; Leboyer, Marion; Sirigu, Angela

2010-01-01

Social adaptation requires specific cognitive and emotional competences. Individuals with high-functioning autism or with Asperger syndrome cannot understand or engage in social situations despite preserved intellectual abilities. Recently, it has been suggested that oxytocin, a hormone known to promote mother-infant bonds, may be implicated in the social deficit of autism. We investigated the behavioral effects of oxytocin in 13 subjects with autism. In a simulated ball game where participan...
Examination of the Relationship of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Inhibition System in the Prediction of Social Anxiety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sohrab Amiri

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Anxiety has a significant impact on academic and social performance as well as quality of life. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between brain/behavioral systems and difficulties in emotion regulation with cognitive and physical aspects of social anxiety. Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study, 306 students were selected from the student population of the Urmia University using multistage cluster sampling. Data collection was performed using measuring scales of social anxiety dimensions, behavioral activation and inhibition system, and difficulties in emotion regulation. Data were analyzed using descriptive indicators, correlation, simultaneous multiple regression analysis, and t-test analysis. Results: In this study, there was a significant positive correlation between behavioral inhibition system and social anxiety dimensions (p<0.001, Also, examination of the relationships of difficulties in emotion regulation and social anxiety indicated a significant positive correlation between difficulties in emotion regulation and social anxiety (p<0.001. In the comparison between women and men in terms of social anxiety components, both groups were different in cognitive dimension of social anxiety, so that the women obtained higher scores than men in the cognitive dimensions. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, individual differences in using negative emotion regulation strategies and personality traits play an important role in the onset and maintenance of anxiety.

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