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This study aims to investigate situational (emotions) and individual factors (peace attitude and personality) on decision making, by using the prisoner's dilemma paradigm. The study involved 104 participants. The positive, neutral and negative emotional states were induced by watching a video. The prisoner's dilemma tasks were administered immediately after the video. Participants were divided into two groups, one with high and one with low levels of peace attitude, and an analysis of repeated measures of variance was subsequently applied. Results show how situational factors, such as exposure to positive rather than negative emotions, increase cooperative rather than competitive choice. For the individual factor of the peace attitude results showed that peaceful people prefer cooperation. This study suggests that both situational factors (emotions) and individual factors (attitude to peace) influence cooperative decision-making choices. Future research should further evaluate the role of situational and individual factors together and their interactions. This work seems to suggest that to achieve a more peaceful society interventions should be made involving both situational and individual factors. With reference to individual factors, learnt behaviors including the peace attitude has to become so automatized that it can overcame any negative emotions induced by the setting. Understanding the developmental pathways that can influence individual factors to consistently choose peace is important so as to promote a stable culture of peace across several levels of observation., Author(s): Rosa Angela Fabio [sup.1] , Valentina Romeo [sup.2] , Chiara Calabrese [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/05ctdxz19, grid.10438.3e, 0000 0001 2178 8421, Department of Economy, University of Messina, , Via [...]

The positivity effect can be defined as an age-related attentional preference for positive information. Previous research has investigated the positive effect through explicit measurements. To our knowledge, no study examined both implicit and explicit measurements. The main aim of the present study was to examine the positivity effect in older adults compared with younger adults, using both implicit and explicit measures. Fifty-nine younger (23 males and 36 females), age range 20-35, and 55 elderly (21 males and 34 females), age range 68-89, healthy adults participated in this study. As an explicit measure of the positivity effect, the index of optimism measured with the Life Orientation Test was used; as an implicit measure of the positivity effect, the Implicit Association Test was used. The results indicated that the older adults showed a higher optimism index than the younger adults. Also, the older adults showed a higher standardized difference on positive emotions compared with negative emotions, whereas the younger group showed an opposite trend. the present study confirms previous findings on positivity effect in the older adults and contributes preliminary evidence that suggests the positivity effect can be observed also when the experimental tasks do not explicitly address participants how processing the information and the task elicits an automatic processing of information., Author(s): Michela Panebianco [sup.1] , Tindara Caprì [sup.2] , Mariateresa Panebianco [sup.1] , Rosa Angela Fabio [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.10438.3e, 0000 0001 2178 8421, Department of Clinical and Experimental [...]

The main aim of the present study was to examine the effects of psychosocial and cognitive stress on executive functions and automatic processes in healthy subjects. To achieve these purposes, we investigated whether cognitive stress impaired the controlled processing underlying cognitive flexibility, working memory and initial letter fluency performances, and whether social stress impaired both performance of executive processes and of semantic fluency. We employed the psychosocial stress paradigm in which cognitive assessment was superimposed on cognitive and social stressors soon after their introduction and was carried out concurrently while they were present. With reference to cognitive stress, we employed the dual-task paradigm that involves a primary task (performances related to executive functions and automatic task) and a secondary task (focusing attention and memorizing items in another cognitive task). Eighty-eight healthy subjects, between 18 and 30 years, participated in this study. They were randomly divided into three groups: two groups undergoing a stress procedure, respectively a cognitive stress group and a social stress group, and a control group. Results indicated that stress impaired cognitive flexibility, working memory and verbal fluency. Cognitive flexibility was affected to a greater extent by psychosocial stress than cognitive stress. This study suggests that the negative effects of stress on cognitive flexibility may be a consequence of the interplay between controlled and automatic processes., Author(s): Rosa Angela Fabio [sup.1] , Giulia Picciotto [sup.1] , Tindara Caprì [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.10438.3e, 0000 0001 2178 8421, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, [...]

BACKGROUND: Social media platforms have become integral to modern society, facilitating diverse content interactions for individuals. The widespread use of social media has sparked intriguing inquiries into its impact on self-perception and individual well-being. This study investigated the phenomenon of social media appearance preoccupation and its complex relationship with psychosocial factors such as self-esteem, well-being, appearance-related anxiety, depression, and anxiety, considering both the rich-get-richer hypothesis and the poor-get-richer hypothesis. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: A sample of 401 Italian participants, aged 18 to 54, completed the demographic questionnaire, the Social Media Appearance Preoccupation Scale (SMAPS), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES), the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI), the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Y2 (STAI-Y2). RESULTS: The results suggest a complex relationship between psychosocial factors and social media appearance preoccupation (SMAP). While higher levels of self-esteem and well-being were associated with lower levels of SMAP, indicating a protective effect against appearance preoccupation on social media, there was a positive correlation between appearance-related anxiety, leisure hours of media use, and SMAP. CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of SMAP and its associations with various psychosocial factors. Overall, these results provide partial support for the theory of the poor-get-richer hypothesis, suggesting that individuals experiencing heightened levels of appearancerelated anxiety may turn to social media as a coping mechanism, potentially exacerbating their psychological distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the role of a growth mind-set of intelligence in influencing the level of engagement toward healthy behaviors in older individuals, as well as related health outcomes. A sample of 100 healthy older adults joined the study. Their beliefs about intelligence (growth vs. fixed mind-set), general health, cognitive functioning, and level of engagement toward healthy behavior were assessed using four different assessment tools. Data confirmed a significant positive relationship between an intelligence growth mind-set and the willingness to adhere to healthy behaviors. Moreover, results suggest that a growth mind-set of intelligence leads to better physical and cognitive health. This study provides some evidence to support the idea that a growth mind-set can affect the process of becoming older by increasing the willingness to adhere to healthy behaviors. These beliefs could be used to implement better approaches to promote adherence to healthy behaviors in older individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive therapeutic method that modulates cortical excitability and shows promising results for treating disorders of consciousness (DoCs). Robotic verticalization training (RVT) has been shown to enhance motor and cognitive recovery. This study evaluates the effects of an innovative approach combining RVT with tDCS in individuals with DoCs. Methods: Twenty-four subjects with DoCs, particularly those with chronic minimally conscious state (MCS) due to vascular or traumatic brain injury, participated in a quasi-randomized study at the Neurorehabilitation Unit, IRCCS Neurolesi (Messina, Italy). Participants were divided into either a control group (CG) receiving RVT alone or an experimental group (EG) receiving combined tDCS and RVT. Both groups underwent treatments five times weekly for four weeks, with tDCS/sham sessions over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) lasting 20 min before Erigo training sessions, which lasted 45 min. Results: The findings indicate that combining tDCS with Erigo® Pro RTT could lead to greater improvements in cognitive functioning and P300 latency compared to the CG. Conclusions: These results suggest that the integrated approach of tDCS with RVT could offer significant benefits for patients with MCS, highlighting its potential to enhance cognitive recovery, such as reducing P300 latency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to develop and validate the Sustainable Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ), a comprehensive tool for assessing environmentally sustainable behaviors among Italian adults. Drawing on established theories and scales, the SBQ was refined through a two‐part study. Study 1 involved reviewing the literature, selecting items, and conducting exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on responses from 219 participants. This process resulted in a four‐factor structure: "purchase behavior and awareness," "reusing and recycling," "reducing," and "walking" and "use of public transport." Study 2, comprising 432 participants, confirmed the four‐factor structure through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and established the SBQ's convergent validity with Intention Sustainable Behavior (ISBQ) and Environment Sustainable Value and Norms (ESVN) measures. The SBQ demonstrated robust internal consistency, providing a reliable instrument for assessing sustainable behaviors. This research contributes to the field by offering a psychometrically sound questionnaire for evaluating sustainable behaviors among Italian adults and further understanding their role in promoting environmental conservation and well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vascular dementia, the second most common type of dementia, currently lacks a definitive cure. In the pursuit of therapies aimed at slowing its progression and alleviating symptoms, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) emerges as a promising approach, characterized by its non-invasive nature and the ability to promote brain plasticity. In this study, the primary objective was to investigate the effects of a two-week cycle of tDCS on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and neurophysiological functioning in thirty patients diagnosed with vascular dementia. Each participant was assigned to one of two groups: the experimental group, which received anodal tDCS to stimulate DPCFL, and the control group, which received sham tDCS. Neurophysiological functions were assessed before and after tDCS using P300 event-related potentials (ERPs), while neuropsychological function was evaluated through a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The results showed a reduction in P300 latency, indicating a faster cognitive process; an increase in P300 amplitude, suggesting a stronger neural response to cognitive stimuli; and a significant improvement in MMSE scores compared to the control group, indicating an overall enhancement in cognitive functions. These findings suggest that tDCS could represent a promising therapeutic option for improving both neurophysiological and cognitive aspects in patients with vascular dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classical theories of reasoning equate System 1 with biases and System 2 with correct responses. Refined theories of reasoning propose the parallel model to explain the two systems. The first purpose of the present article is to give a contribution to the debate on the parallel and default-interventionfist models: we hypothesized when logic and belief conflict both logical validity and belief judgments will be affected with greater level of response errors and/or longer response times. The second purpose of this article is to assess the relationship between decisional styles and performance in deductive reasoning. Seventy-two participants participated in the experiment and completed 64 modus ponens and modus tollens syllogistic reasoning tasks. Accordingly, we found that belief and logic judgments were affected by the conflict condition, both in easy syllogisms (i.e., modus ponens) and in complex syllogisms (i.e., modus tollens). Findings showed also that participants with a rational decision-making style were more strongly influenced by logic than belief, whereas those with an intuitive decision-making style were more strongly influenced by belief than logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that acute psychosocial stress impairs cognitive abilities, but recent studies suggest that this may be due to a decrease in willingness to engage in cognitive effort rather than a direct effect on performance. The aim of the present study was to replicate this last research and verify the influence of acute stress on avoidance of cognitive effort and cognitive performance. Fifty young, healthy individuals (26 females, 24 males) aged between 18 and 40 years were randomly assigned to two groups: a stress condition and a control condition. We used a Demand Selection Task paradigm (DST), in which participants chose between performing tasks that required either high or low cognitive effort. Stress was induced through the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and measured with both subjective and psychophysiological measurements. The results indicated that acute stress significantly increased participants' preference for less demanding behaviors, while no significant alterations in cognitive performance in task change activities were found. This study offers new perspectives on how stress affects behavior and decision‐making in everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]