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This commentary outlines a novel agenda for future mindfulness research, building on various authors' insights, particularly Indius (Indius, S. (2024). Meditation and Self-transcendence: A Human need? Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 58(3), 878–883), who integrates Maslow's hierarchy of needs into the discussion of mindfulness. Indius argues for a revision of humanistic psychology to reflect contemporary needs, emphasizing the dynamic nature of meditation as a transformative process that leads to self-actualization and self-transcendence. This exploration highlights the metaphor of a volcanic eruption to illustrate how meditation can lead to the destruction and subsequent rebirth of psychological needs, fostering a deeper connection to oneself and the environment. Additionally, it examines the interplay of social, material, and cultural contexts in shaping mindfulness practices, suggesting a need for personalization and ecological interconnectedness. The commentary aligns with multiple perspectives presented in the Special Issue, underscoring the necessity of adapting traditional frameworks like Maslow's to meet evolving cultural and psychological landscapes. Future research pathways include preserving mindfulness breakthroughs, exploring religious worldviews, and integrating social environments into mindfulness studies, ultimately advocating for a holistic understanding of mindfulness as both a process and outcome in the context of human experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "The Social Psychology of Stigma in the Indian Context" discusses the concept of social stigma in Indian society, focusing on various stigmatized groups and their experiences. It explores how stigma leads to discrimination, exclusion, and marginalization of individuals based on specific characteristics or attributes. The research project, initiated during an Indo-British seminar in 2005, resulted in a special issue presenting papers on stigma in the Indian context, highlighting the need for further research to address this critical social issue. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing stigma to alleviate the suffering of isolated sections of society. [Extracted from the article]

Alan Fiske, a professor of anthropology at UCLA, discusses the nature of human relationships from a cross-cultural perspective in an interview. He challenges the idea that cultures are radically distinct due to symbolic anthropology's influence, which emphasizes symbols and cultural conventions. Fiske's "Relational Models" theory posits that communal sharing, authority ranking, equality matching, and market pricing are universal cultural categories that shape social coordination. He also explores the emotion of "kama muta," which is evoked by sudden intensification in communal sharing and can be observed in various cultural contexts. Fiske emphasizes the importance of systematic observation in natural settings, valuing detailed descriptions, and studying diverse communities to develop comprehensive theories in the social and behavioral sciences. [Extracted from the article]

In this work, we argue that the lack of a solid theoretical basis and the absence of an integrative movement in psychological science within evolutionary perspectives has meant that the various attempts to explain and define the phenomenon of "temperaments" offer notions that are either too broad or simply imprecise and, as a result, they failed to reach a high level of consensus among researchers in this science. In this regard, we understand that the evolutionary theory proposed by Osmo (Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science 57:205–234, 2023) is promising for reaching such a consensus. Thus, the objective of this article is, from this theory, to offer a better understanding of the phenomenon of "temperaments", and, based on it, to develop a precise and parsimonious definition of this term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This scoping review examined grief related to the incarceration of a family member in order to establish a theoretical framework. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Social Sciences Citation Index, Embase, PsycInfo, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials & Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PILOTS, and Psychiatry Online was conducted. We extracted data on sample characteristics, study design, purpose of the study, grief measure used, grief term and definition used, and key qualitative and quantitative findings. Twenty-five studies met inclusion criteria. Most studies used the terms 'ambiguous loss' (n = 15) and 'disenfranchised grief' (n = 12); however, grief terms and their definitions varied. The review identified 14 unique terms and more than 20 definitions. In several cases, the same term was defined and conceptualized differently between studies. This review also revealed shortcomings in existing theoretical frameworks for grief related to incarceration. Grief related to losing a family member to incarceration involves two distinct constructs: non-traditional losses and cascading losses. Non-traditional losses (measured on a continuum) capture elements of a loss to incarceration that are unique (compared to a loss via death) or may not be socially accepted, whereas cascading losses refers to the ongoing losses that one may experience related to the incarceration (e.g., loss of financial stability). This framework provides the field with consistent constructs and definitions that can be used to further advance research in incarceration-related grief and facilitates an improved ability to replicate findings between laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the 30-year evolution of behavioral medicine and its international impact on health science. Topics include the development of interdisciplinary approaches in behavioral medicine, advancements in research on behavioral health interventions, and the global collaboration that has shaped the field's growth and future directions.

Background: Behavioral medicine has made key contributions toward improving health outcomes. Engaging community partners in research is critical to addressing persistent health inequities. The aim of this scoping review was to explore how researchers engaged community partners within the field of behavioral medicine research from 2005 to 2023. Method: Publication databases and gray literature were searched for research that engaged community partners to address questions relevant to behavioral medicine. Articles were screened by title and abstract, and then by full text. Articles meeting the inclusion criteria were coded using the framework provided by the Engagement Navigator to identify engagement approaches, methods, and tools and when they were used during the research. Results: Of 1486 articles initially identified, 58 met the inclusion criteria. Most articles used well-known approaches (e.g., community-based participatory research; 67%), methods (e.g., advisory committees; 59%), and tools (e.g., interviews; 41%), and engaged with healthcare service providers (62%) and/or patients (53%). Community partners were most often included in research planning and design (79%), and less often in dissemination (45%). Conclusion: Community engagement has considerable potential to address health inequities. Our assessment of the approaches, methods, and tools used by behavioral medicine researchers to engage with a diverse range of community partners points toward promising strategies for enhancing the impact of community engagement. Researchers should incorporate explicit descriptions of community engagement strategies in publications, an outcome that could be facilitated by clear publishing guidelines, structured reporting tools, and clear messaging from funders about the value of community engagement in behavioral medicine research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In behavioral sciences, there is growing concern about the inflation of false-positive rates due to the amount of under-powered studies that have been shared in the past years. While problematic, having the possibility to recruit (lots of) participants (for a lot of time) is realistically not achievable for many research facilities. Factors that hinder the reaching of optimal sample sizes are, to name but a few, research costs, participants' availability and commitment, and logistics. We challenge these issues by introducing PsySuite, an Android app designed to foster a remote approach to multimodal behavioral testing. To validate PsySuite, we first evaluated its ability to generate stimuli appropriate to rigorous psychophysical testing, measuring both the app's accuracy (i.e., stimuli's onset, offset, and multimodal simultaneity) and precision (i.e., the stability of a given pattern across trials), using two different smartphone models. We then evaluated PsySuite's ability to replicate perceptual performances obtained using a classic psychophysical paradigm, comparing sample data collected with the app against those measured via a PC-based setup. Our results showed that PsySuite could accurately reproduce stimuli with a minimum duration of 7 ms, 17 ms, and 30 ms for the auditory, visual, and tactile modalities, respectively, and that perceptual performances obtained with PsySuite were consistent with the perceptual behavior observed using the classical setup. Combined with the high accessibility inherently supported by PsySuite, here we ought to share the app to further boost psychophysical research, aiming at setting it to a cheap, user-friendly, and portable level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When lab resources are shared among multiple research projects, issues such as experimental integrity, replicability, and data safety become important. Different research projects often need different software and settings that may well conflict with one another, and data collected for one project may not be safeguarded from exposure to researchers from other projects. In this paper we provide an infrastructure design and an open-source tool, labManager, that render multi-user lab facilities in the behavioral sciences accessible to research projects with widely varying needs. The solutions proposed ensure ease of management while simultaneously offering maximum flexibility by providing research projects with fully separated bare metal environments. This solution also ensures that collected data is kept separate, and compliant with relevant ethical standards and regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation. Furthermore, we discuss preconditions for running shared lab facilities and provide practical advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large language models (LLMs) have the potential to revolutionize behavioral science by accelerating and improving the research cycle, from conceptualization to data analysis. Unlike closed-source solutions, open-source frameworks for LLMs can enable transparency, reproducibility, and adherence to data protection standards, which gives them a crucial advantage for use in behavioral science. To help researchers harness the promise of LLMs, this tutorial offers a primer on the open-source Hugging Face ecosystem and demonstrates several applications that advance conceptual and empirical work in behavioral science, including feature extraction, fine-tuning of models for prediction, and generation of behavioral responses. Executable code is made available at github.com/Zak-Hussain/LLM4BeSci.git. Finally, the tutorial discusses challenges faced by research with (open-source) LLMs related to interpretability and safety and offers a perspective on future research at the intersection of language modeling and behavioral science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigators in neuroscience have turned to Big Data to address replication and reliability issues by increasing sample size. These efforts unveil new questions about how to integrate data across distinct sources and instruments. The goal of this study was to link scores across common auditory verbal learning tasks (AVLTs). This international secondary analysis aggregated multisite raw data for AVLTs across 53 studies totaling 10,505 individuals. Using the ComBat-GAM algorithm, we isolated and removed the component of memory scores associated with site effects while preserving instrumental effects. After adjustment, a continuous item response theory model used multiple memory items of varying difficulty to estimate each individual's latent verbal learning ability on a single scale. Equivalent raw scores across AVLTs were then found by linking individuals through the ability scale. Harmonization reduced total cross-site score variance by 37% while preserving meaningful memory effects. Age had the largest impact on scores overall (− 11.4%), while race/ethnicity variable was not significant (p > 0.05). The resulting tools were validated on dually administered tests. The conversion tool is available online so researchers and clinicians can convert memory scores across instruments. This work demonstrates that global harmonization initiatives can address reproducibility challenges across the behavioral sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in response time following previous losses relative to previous wins are robust observations in behavioural science, often attributed to an increased (or decreased) degree of cognitive control exerted after negative feedback, hence, post-loss slowing (or post-loss speeding). This presumes that the locus of this effect resides in the specific modulation of decision time following negative outcomes. Across two experiments, I demonstrate how the use of absolute rather than relative processing speeds, and the sensitivity of processing speeds in response to specific experimental manipulations (Experiment 1: win rate, Experiment 2: feedback), provide clarity as to the relative weighting of post-win and post-loss states in determining these behavioural effects. Both experiments show that the speeding or slowing of decision-time is largely due to the flexibility generated by post-win cognitive states. Given that post-loss speeding may actually represent post-win slowing, conclusions regarding the modulation of decision-making time as a function of previous outcomes need to be more carefully considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online experiments are increasingly gaining traction in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, behavioral researchers have largely continued to use keyboards as the primary input devices for such online studies, overlooking the ubiquity of touchscreens in everyday use. This paper presents an open-source touchscreen extension for jsPsych, a JavaScript framework designed for conducting online experiments. We additionally evaluated the touchscreen extension assessing whether typical behavioral findings from two distinct perceptual decision-making tasks – the random-dot kinematogram and the Stroop task – can similarly be observed when administered via touchscreen devices compared to keyboard devices. Our findings indicate similar performance metrics for each paradigm between the touchscreen and keyboard versions of the experiments. Specifically, we observe similar psychometric curves in the random-dot kinematogram across the touchscreen and keyboard versions. Similarly, in the Stroop task, we detect significant task, congruency, and sequential congruency effects in both experiment versions. We conclude that our open-source touchscreen extension serves as a promising tool for data collection in online behavioral experiments on forced-choice tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging in sustainable behaviours is a key priority for environmental sustainability. Behavioural changes such as recycling, and food sharing are needed to achieve a zero-emissions society. Digital technologies can support engagement with these behaviours through publicly accessible digital platforms such as mobile apps which connect those with surplus items to those who need or wish to consume these items. However, very little research has examined the factors influencing engagement with mobile apps, particularly in the context of developing countries. This exploratory sequential mixed methods study used behavioural science models to identify factors influencing engagement with the Olio app, a mobile application for food and non-food items sharing in Bogota, Colombia. Influencing factors were analyzed and categorized as barriers or enablers using the Capability (C), Opportunity (O), and Motivation (M) model of behaviour (B) change (COM-B). Regarding barriers, two were strong influencers "perceived difficulty to use a mobile app" for donating items (physical opportunity, β = -.25, p <.001), and "lack of time to collect a used item in others' location" (physical opportunity, β = -.18, p <.01). As to the enablers, the strongest predictor for collecting was "finding mobile apps to share used items to be widely disseminated on social media channels" (physical opportunity, β =.27, p <.001) and for donating "Knowing how to use mobile apps" (psychological capability, β =.19, p <.01). Findings are discussed along with implementation strategies that could potentially increase engagement with the Olio app to support sustainable consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postpartum depression (PPD) affects nearly 20% of postpartum women and has severe short- and long-term detrimental effects on their mental health. While there is ample evidence linking depression-related outcomes and individuals' socioeconomic status (SES), the examination of differences in PPD as a function of SES has received relatively little empirical attention, resulting in inconsistent empirical evidence. There are also no well-established systematic reviews on the linkage between SES and PPD. Thus, we conducted A PRISMA-compliant systematic review to comprehensively analyze the association of SES (as measured by long-established objective [e.g., income or education] and subjective measures) with PPD (as measured by widely validated scales). We performed a bibliographic search on CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE complete, and EBSCO Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Among the 201 articles retrieved, 16 met the eligibility criteria. Our results reveal that mothers with lower income and education levels (objective indicators of SES) were more likely to experience PPD. Notably, we also found that subjective SES, compared to objective SES, was more strongly associated with PPD. Overall, these findings indicate that low-SES mothers may be at increased risk of PPD compared to high-SES mothers, reflecting the need for more efficient early detection programs for PPD among low-SES mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anomalies in mood, thinking, work, bodily functions, emotions, social interactions, and general behavior are frequently related to mental disorders. A strong correlation has been found between affective disorders, mental illnesses, and physiological reactions from the brain, muscles, heart, eyes, and skin. Understanding multidisciplinary open research challenges, including the combination of behavioral sciences, computer science, machine learning, psychology, and sociology, could potentially reveal new interdisciplinary research domains. In the purview of previously stated arguments, this study intends to investigate the physiological and behavioral signals could be used for machine learning-based detection of mental disorders. Subsequently, identification of machine learning algorithms to exploit these modalities for detecting mental disorders were studied. This study presents a systematic literature review to promulgate state-of-the-art computational methods and technologies facilitating the automated detection of affective disorders. The relevant literature between 2010 and 2022 has been studied for this survey. Recommendations of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model were adopted for the identification, screening, validating, and inclusion of research literature. The study concluded the fact that self-diagnosis tools for detecting mental disorders, like questionnaires and rating scales, produce inconsistent results. Further, there are no standard baselines for mental disorders. This situation mandates a multi-faceted approach that may utilize physiological signals, behavioral patterns, and even data obtained from various online portals like social media to efficiently and effectively detect mental disorders' prevalence, type, and severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

von Fircks' (Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science 1-20, 2003) essay on the experience of meditation is rich in stimuli and insights. This paper aims at extrapolating and developing a germinal element from it: Semiotic mediation constitutes the core of the religious nature of the human psyche. It represents both the drive for transformation in the transcendence of the relational process and the search for stability and fixedness in the immanence of the experience of the present moment. The religiosity of the mind can be considered the expression of a transcendent function of semiosis in the very act of looking at an elsewhere in the present moment. The semiotic mediation of the religious psyche seeks meaning in the very act of creating it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many studies in the social and behavioral sciences, the data have a multilevel structure, with subjects nested within clusters. In the design phase of such a study, the number of clusters to achieve a desired power level has to be calculated. This requires a priori estimates of the effect size and intraclass correlation coefficient. If these estimates are incorrect, the study may be under- or overpowered. This may be overcome by using a group-sequential design, where interim tests are done at various points in time of the study. Based on interim test results, a decision is made to either include additional clusters or to reject the null hypothesis and conclude the study. This contribution introduces Bayesian sequential designs as an alternative to group-sequential designs. This approach compares various hypotheses based on the support in the data for each of them. If neither hypothesis receives a sufficient degree of support, additional clusters are included in the study and the Bayes factor is recalculated. This procedure continues until one of the hypotheses receives sufficient support. This paper explains how the Bayes factor is used as a measure of support for a hypothesis and how a Bayesian sequential design is conducted. A simulation study in the setting of a two-group comparison was conducted to study the effects of the minimum and maximum number of clusters per group and the desired degree of support. It is concluded that Bayesian sequential designs are a flexible alternative to the group sequential design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This document provides a list of books on topics related to economics and social science. The books cover a range of subjects, including decision-making, sustainable food design, mass consumption, food policy, consumer behavior, the circular economy, customer satisfaction, data privacy, climate change, sustainable finance, social contracts, behavioral science, public policy, behavioral law and economics, and nudges. Each book is briefly described, highlighting its main focus and key arguments. [Extracted from the article]

Psychological Flexibility is an essential concept in Contextual Behavioural Sciences. The development of instruments is vital for its study, and it is an opportunity to reflect on this concept. Among the measures of this construct, Psy-Flex shows promise due to comprehensiveness in assessing the six facets of psychological flexibility and its pragmatic value. In the present study, we sought to translate Psy-Flex to Portuguese and adapt it transculturally for use in Portugal and Brazil. The translation was done independently by Brazilian and Portuguese researchers, and a consensus procedure was done to identify a synthesis. A total of 873 adults from Portugal and Brazil were involved in this study. The participants completed several questionnaires with ACT-related measures (e.g., cognitive fusion, mindful attention) and instruments measuring conceptually related variables (e.g., positive mental health). The results show good psychometric properties of PsyFlex. The one-factor structure of the original instrument was confirmed in both the Portuguese and Brazilian samples. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good fit of the model to the data (CFI = 0.985, RMSEA = 0.055) of both countries. Furthermore, the Psy-Flex showed convergent validity with related measures in a conceptually expected way. As a transcultural instrument, we argue that both the similarities and differences across samples suggest the broad human nature of psychological flexibility while retaining its context sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at exploring existing literature on substance use prevention programs, focusing on refugee youth. A comprehensive search for relevant articles was conducted on Scopus, PubMed, and EBSCOhost Megafile databases including Academic Search Ultimate, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL with Full Text, E-Journals, Humanities Source Ultimate, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection, and Sociology Source Ultimate. Initially, a total of 485 studies were retrieved; nine papers were retained for quality assessment after removing duplicates. Of the nine studies that met the inclusion criteria, only three are found to partially addressed substance use prevention programs. The two substance use prevention programs that emerge from the study are Adelante Social and Marketing Campaign (ASMC), and Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI). Six others explored protective factors and strategies for preventing substance use. The study findings show that refugee youth held negative attitudes toward institutions that provide substance use prevention programs. This review concluded that refugee youth often experience persistent substance use as they are not aware of prevention programs that may reduce the prevalence and/or severity of such misuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional risk minimization strategies may be required to assure a positive benefit–risk balance for some therapeutic products associated with serious adverse drug reactions/risks of use, without which these products may be otherwise unavailable to patients. The goals of risk minimization strategies are often fundamentally to influence the behavior of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and/or patients and can include appropriate patient selection, provision of education and counselling, appropriate medication use, adverse drug reaction monitoring, and adoption of other elements to assure safe use, such as pregnancy prevention. Current approaches to additional risk minimization strategy development rely heavily on information provision, without full consideration of the contextual factors and multi-level influences on patient and HCP behaviors that impact adoption and long-term adherence to these interventions. Application of evidence-based behavioral science methods are urgently needed to improve the quality and effectiveness of these strategies. Evidence from the fields of adherence, health promotion, and drug utilization research underscores the value and necessity for using established behavioral science frameworks and methods if we are to achieve clinical safety goals for patients. The current paper aims to enhance additional risk minimization strategy development and effectiveness by considering how a behavioral science approach can be applied, drawing from evidence in understanding of engagement with pharmaceutical medicines as well as wider public health interventions for patients and HCPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the integration of culturo-behavior science and contextual behavior science (CBS2) to address global rights violations and promote social change. It emphasizes the role of culture in behavior and the importance of intentional change within sociocultural contexts. The authors argue for collaboration between these perspectives to advance applied research and practice in behavior science. The text also discusses the impact of language and cognition on culturo-behavior science and highlights the significance of relational responding in the development of cultural practices and the spread of propaganda. It concludes by emphasizing the need for a systemic and contextual approach to studying complex social issues and the role of communication in cultural practices. [Extracted from the article]

This journal launched in January 2015 with a mission to publish robust scholarship from across and between all areas of the humanities, and social and behavioural sciences. Here, we look back at how we have stayed true to our guiding mission and reflect on what lies ahead for this journal but also scholarly publishing more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achievement inequality has been on the rise. Globally, students from disadvantaged backgrounds perform worse academically than their peers, even with equal ability. This represents a significant loss of potential and perpetuates inequality. We organized this interdisciplinary Special Collection to uncover experiences that contribute to achievement inequality, identify interventions that reduce it, and sketch a research agenda. We hope it inspires scholars committed to addressing social problems through basic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of behavioral science into conservation science and climate science has enabled the development of both novel research questions and practical interventions. However, most behavioral interventions aim to change private, individual behaviors, rather than transform the political economic systems that drive current biodiversity, climate, and social crises. In this paper, we argue that closer collaboration between behavioral scientists working on biodiversity and climate issues, on the one hand, and advocates for radical alternatives to current political economic systems, on the other, could advance such needed systemic transformation. While the work of both groups is subject to some critique, we suggest that closer collaboration could enable the strengths of each to address the others' weaknesses. This complementarity is particularly true when behavioral interventions are co-designed with advocates and targeted towards powerful individuals whose behavior could affect systems-level transformation. We use the fossil fuel divestment movement as an illustrative example of one way in which this collaboration could be mutually beneficial, and then outline potential political, practical, and ethical implications that may accompany such collaborations in the biodiversity conservation and climate change fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the social and behavioral sciences, surveys are frequently used to collect data. During the COVID-19 pandemic, surveys provided political actors and public health professionals with timely insights on the attitudes and behaviors of the general population. These insights were key in guiding actions to fight the pandemic. However, the data quality of these surveys remains unclear because systematic knowledge about how the survey data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic is lacking. This is unfortunate, since decades of survey research have shown that survey design impacts data. Our Survey Data Collection and the COVID-19 Pandemic (SDCCP) project deals with this research gap. We collected rich metadata on survey design for 717 social and behavioral science surveys carried out in Germany during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this data descriptor, we present a unique resource for a systematic assessment of the survey data collection practices and quality of surveys conducted in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst policymaking will always remain a highly political process, especially amidst crises, evidence-based pandemic management can benefit from adopting a socioecological perspective that integrates multi- and trans-disciplinary insights: from biology, biomedicine, mathematics, statistics, social and behavioural sciences, as well as the perspectives and experiences of non-scientific stakeholders. We make a case for an "integrated inter- and transdisciplinarity" that overcomes the typical additive nature of current interdisciplinary work and better captures the inherent complexity of public health and other public policy problems. We propose systems science and systems thinking approaches as a useful meta-theoretical, self-reflecting approach for such integration to take place. Enabled by systems thinking, the praxis of "integrated inter- and transdisciplinarity" allows for an understanding of public health crises in a human-centred socio-ecological perspective. This grounds more holistic policy responses, which by mobilising the whole of government and whole of society, put individuals, groups, governments and society at large in critical dialogue to co-produce and co-design interventions that address crises in all their physical, social, psychological, economic and political dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings are energy- and resource-hungry: their construction and use account for around 39% of global carbon dioxide emissions; they consume around 40% of all the energy produced; they are responsible for over 35% of the EU's total waste generation; and account for about 50% of all extracted (fossil) materials. Therefore, they present a significant challenge to meeting national and international Net Zero targets of reducing greenhouse emissions and fossil resource use. The CircularB Project, is at the heart of this issue, which will underpin synergies of multi-scale circular perspectives (from materials, to components, to assets and built environments), digital transformation solutions, data-driven and complexity science, stakeholder behavioral science, and interdisciplinary capabilities towards achievable, affordable and marketable circular solutions for both new and existing buildings, for sustainable urban design, and for circular built environments across Europe. This paper contributes to the project by deriving new insights into the stakeholders' influences, inter-relationships, and obstacles in the implementation of circular economy concepts on existing building stocks in Europe, which represent over 90% of whole building assets. In order to identify and derive the insights, our study is rigorously based on (i) a robust critical literature review of key documentations such as articles, standards, policy reports, strategic roadmaps and white papers; and (ii) interviews with relevant stakeholders and decision makers. Uniquely, our work spans across all scales of CE implementation from materials, to products and components, to existing building stocks, and to living built environments. The findings point out the current challenges and obstacles required to be tackled. Inadequacies of financial incentives and governmental enforcement (via policy, legislation, or directive) are commonly found to be the most critical obstacles found throughout Europe. Circular economy is the global challenge and not just a single country can resolve the climate issue without the cooperation of other countries. The insights thus highlight the essential need for harmonized actions and tactical/pragmatic policies promoted and regulated by the European Commission, national and local governments who can dominate the influence, promote inter-relationship, and overcome the barriers towards circular economy much more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While psychology and other scientific fields may not always live up to the ideal of self-correction, retractions are one effective mechanism to address flawed entries in the scientific record once they have already been published. Despite their utility, retractions are steeped in stigma for authors, and information about the role of authors in the retraction process is not consistently reported in retraction statements. Based on examples across the variety of existing retraction statements across fields, we propose three categories of retractions based on authors' roles, as well as suggested standard criteria for retraction statements to ensure they provide adequate information about the process, rationale, and interpretability of retractions while providing authors with a voice in this very challenging outcome for their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disciplines in social and behavioral science have become increasingly committed to promoting social justice activism at the expense of viewpoint diversity. The present study documents the impact of this ideological project on the literature on racial disparities in criminal justice outcomes. Evidence from a recent high-profile retraction suggests that elite gatekeepers are willing to disregard ethical guidelines to censor an article embraced by conservatives. Evidence from additional case studies illustrates selective application of methodological standards based on the political implications of the findings. Serious errors are less likely to be treated as fatal if the contribution supports the activist agenda. By contrast, methodologically sound contributions are labeled as flawed if they challenge the dominant narrative. Although this manner of conduct is consistent with the evolved morality of human tribes, it violates the established norms of science. Observations from recent literature suggest that the integrity of social science research is compromised by our collective failure to value and protect contrarian perspectives. To remedy the situation, I propose that the open science movement – which has been successful at reducing questionable research practices – expand its scope from the craft of doing science to the realm of ideas, assumptions, and viewpoints. In short, I advocate for an "open minds" initiative for the improvement of social science research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the need to understand the underlying factors contributing to unsustainable human behavior in order to comprehensively address sustainability transformations. The authors argue that while knowledge alone is insufficient to drive sustainable actions, values play a crucial role in shaping behavior. They question the concept of "universal values" proposed by O'Brien et al., suggesting that social priorities and values may be a root cause of unsustainable development. The authors advocate for an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the reasons behind unsustainable behavior and emphasize the importance of integrating social preferences into sustainability transformations. [Extracted from the article]

Bidirectional relations have long been of interest in psychology and other social behavioral sciences. In recent years, the widespread use of intensive longitudinal data has provided new opportunities to examine dynamic bidirectional relations between variables. However, most previous studies have focused on the effect of one variable on the other (i.e., cross-lagged effects) rather than the overall effect representing the dynamic interplay between two variables (i.e., feedback effects), which we believe may be due to a lack of relevant methodological guidance. To quantify bidirectional relations as a whole, this study attempted to provide guidance for the estimation and interpretation of feedback effects based on dynamic structural equation models. First, we illustrated the estimation procedure for the average and person-specific feedback effects. Then, to facilitate the interpretation of feedback effects, we established an empirical benchmark by quantitatively synthesizing the results of relevant empirical studies. Finally, we used a set of empirical data to demonstrate how feedback effects can help (a) test theories based on bidirectional relations and (b) reveal correlates of individual differences in bidirectional relations. We also discussed the broad application prospects of feedback effects from a dynamic systems perspective. This study provides guidance for applied researchers interested in further examining feedback effects in bidirectional relations, and the shift from focusing on cross-lagged effects only to a comprehensive consideration of feedback effects may provide new insights into the study of bidirectional relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Think/No-Think (TNT) task has just celebrated 20 years since its inception, and its use has been growing as a tool to investigate the mechanisms underlying memory control and its neural underpinnings. Here, we present a theoretical and practical guide for designing, implementing, and running TNT studies. For this purpose, we provide a step-by-step description of the structure of the TNT task, methodological choices that can be made, parameters that can be chosen, instruments available, aspects to be aware of, systematic information about how to run a study and analyze the data. Importantly, we provide a TNT training package (as Supplementary Material), that is, a series of multimedia materials (e.g., tutorial videos, informative HTML pages, MATLAB code to run experiments, questionnaires, scoring sheets, etc.) to complement this method paper and facilitate a deeper understanding of the TNT task, its rationale, and how to set it up in practice. Given the recent discussion about the replication crisis in the behavioral sciences, we hope that this contribution will increase standardization, reliability, and replicability across laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A defining feature of biology is the use of a multiscale architecture, ranging from molecular networks to cells, tissues, organs, whole bodies, and swarms. Crucially however, biology is not only nested structurally, but also functionally: each level is able to solve problems in distinct problem spaces, such as physiological, morphological, and behavioral state space. Percolating adaptive functionality from one level of competent subunits to a higher functional level of organization requires collective dynamics: multiple components must work together to achieve specific outcomes. Here we overview a number of biological examples at different scales which highlight the ability of cellular material to make decisions that implement cooperation toward specific homeodynamic endpoints, and implement collective intelligence by solving problems at the cell, tissue, and whole-organism levels. We explore the hypothesis that collective intelligence is not only the province of groups of animals, and that an important symmetry exists between the behavioral science of swarms and the competencies of cells and other biological systems at different scales. We then briefly outline the implications of this approach, and the possible impact of tools from the field of diverse intelligence for regenerative medicine and synthetic bioengineering. A Perspective on how the tools of behavioral science and the emerging field of diverse intelligence help to understand decision-making of cellular collectives in evolutionary and biomedical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We suggest a reconsideration of broad and sweeping claims that research has demonstrated that nonverbal behavior (NVB) are not indicators of deception. We reexamine several methodological characteristics of a seminal meta-analysis that is often cited as non-evidence and caution the field from drawing overgeneralized conclusions about the role of NVB as indicators of deception based on that reexamination. We review studies since then that have provided ample evidence for NVB to provide such information, and then offer additional considerations about this topic to provide additional context. Our views are based on the nature of evolved human communication mechanisms, the complexity of mental contents, and differences between unconscious and conscious mediation of behavior and words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Columbine High School-massacre, the world continues to witness school shootings. The current state of research presents us with nuanced categories for understanding the phenomenon, such as the school shooters' use of media, their psychological features, and their intentions. Similarly, the discussion of preventive measures is equally bountiful. While there are a number of empirical studies that are related to digitalization, a gap in how we theorize the meaning of digitalization persists. Our aim is to provide an integrated synthesis needed for understanding school shootings in the digital era. Via a narrative literature review, we identified three explanatory themes, namely strain, imitation, and digital mediation. These were synthesized in order to explain more thoroughly how individuals come to participate in online school shooting subculture, possibly leading to their perpetration of school shootings. Based on this, a model is presented that excels in its focus on the ever more prominent role of digitality in everyday life as well as in its broad social science and behavioral explanations. Finally, the article provides potential venues for further research along with prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background : Governments have relied on their citizens to adhere to a variety of transmission-reducing behaviours (TRBs) to suppress the Covid-19 pandemic. Understanding the psychological and sociodemographic predictors of adherence to TRBs will be heavily influenced by the particular theories used by researchers. This review aims to identify the theories and theoretical constructs used to understand adherence to TRBs during the pandemic within the UK social and legislative context. Methods: A systematic review identified studies to understand TRBs of adults in the UK during the pandemic. Identified theoretical constructs were coded to the Theoretical Domains Framework. Data are presented as a narrative summary. Results: Thirty-five studies (n = 211,209) investigated 123 TRBs, applied 13 theoretical frameworks and reported 50 sociodemographic characteristics and 129 psychological constructs. Most studies used social cognition theories to understand TRBs and employed cross-sectional designs. Risk of sampling bias was high. Relationships between constructs and TRBs varied, but in general, beliefs about the disease (e.g. severity and risk perception) and about TRBs (e.g. behavioural norms) influenced behavioural intentions and self-reported adherence. More studies than not found that older people and females were more adherent. Conclusions: Behavioural scientists in the UK generated a significant and varied body of work to understand TRBs during the pandemic. However, more use of theories that do not rely on deliberative processes to effect behaviour change and study designs better able to support causal inferences should be used in future to inform public health policy and practice. Prospero Registration: CRD42021282699. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hospital is a very complex organization because it works on all days, at all hours uninterruptedly. The people visiting a hospital are in pain, and the people working in a hospital are diverse ranging from highly skilled medical, paramedical, and technical staff to unskilled employees working as runners, female attendants, and house-keeping staff making it a unique place to be or work in. Hence, a hospital administrator who is at the helm of affairs needs to be mature and tactful in dealing with the staff. A hospital administrator is a professional who oversees the daily operations of a hospital by planning, directing, and coordinating health services. In view of the peculiar nature of the hospital as an organization, the hospital administrator needs to have a multidisciplinary approach applying the principles of public administration, behavioral science, and management skills. He needs to have a balanced approach and find a middle path for multiple issues which are likely to crop up almost daily while working in a hospital. Hospital managers need to possess expertise in the form of strategic skills, perceptive skills, human relation skills, work experience, and personal characteristics in the form of motivation, self-confidence, and courage of decision-making. Hospital administrators should be capable to solve any number of problems quickly and efficiently and must know the best ways to approach a conflict so as not to escalate the situation. The primary focus of hospital administrator is on ensuring high-quality patient care and efficient hospital services and use their administrative skills to manage budgets, funding, and resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study explores educational practices and processes in an interdisciplinary summer course addressing SDG14 (Life below water), SDG13 (Climate action), SDG4 (Education), SDG3 (Good health and wellbeing), and SDG17 (Partnerships). From May to August in 2022, students from 12 countries participated in an undergraduate summer course (SDG 200 Ocean–Climate–Society) on the sailship Statsraad Lehmkuhl as part of the One Ocean Expedition. Sustainability, marine biology, behavioral science, and sail training were core aspects of the daily assignments for the 86 students during the Pacific crossing from Chile to Tahiti. The students took part in watch duties 24–7 and were assigned to 18 working groups in their academic studies. Active learning approaches such as team-based learning and storytelling proved essential to engage students in interdisciplinary exchange on sustainability issues. A major challenge was to strike a balance between the academic work and the requirements from sea duties and life on board a sailship. Student feedback and assessment contribute to contextualize the learning experiences and personal development during the first five weeks on board. This case study provides an example of how life on a sailship can present a formative learning experience and an interdisciplinary laboratory to study and live in alignment with SDGs and with the overall mandate of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social and behavioral sciences now stand at a critical juncture. The emergence of Computational Social Science has significantly changed how social networks are studied. In his keynote at IC2S2 2021, Lehmann presented a series of research based on the Copenhagen Network Study and pointed out an important insight that has mostly gone unnoticed for many network science practitioners: the data generation process — in particular, how data is aggregated over time and the medium through which social interactions occur — could shape the structure of networks that researchers observe. Situating the keynote in the broader field of CSS, this commentary expands on its relevance for the shared challenges and ongoing development of CSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that not all types of consumption benefit well-being is not new. However, its recent formalization within the framework of the behavioral and social sciences has led to a rapid expansion of knowledge about the goods that are most effective in increasing happiness. Most evidence has been obtained from the developed world and with a focus on broad categories that ignore meaningful heterogeneities. This paper contributes to this domain by conducting a detailed analysis of the relationship that happiness has with a variety of market goods and with aggregate measures of purchasing power. We do this using the data of Ecuador, a country characterized by a relational-oriented culture, high collectivist values, structural inequalities, and weak political institutions. Throughout the paper, we tested various hypotheses related to this particular context. The results show that consumption is superior to income as a predictor of happiness. Higher levels of happiness can also be seen among people who spend more on relational and time-saving goods; less on health and alcohol; and own a good quality of dwelling. As for basic goods, some seem beneficial in the whole sample analysis, but they exhibit a stronger relationship with happiness among the poor. Additionally, we find that, in most cases, public goods as well as paying taxes correlate negatively with happiness. Moreover, we identify some heterogeneities that shed light on the behavior of the poor and that reflect unequal distribution of household tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I discuss the systemic features of the life-span development approach which was initially elaborated by Baltes (1989) and more recently considered by Greve (Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 1–21, 2023). I argue that the life-span development approach should recognize the agentivity of people as they not only passively react to changes inside and around themselves but rather imaginatively co-construct their selves (and, their environment) through aging. The irreversibility of human development is highlighted in this paper simultaneously with the recognition of the significance of past phenomenological experiences for self-construction. People are considered as historical agents who evolve through gradual qualitative transformations instead of jumping from one discrete (age) category to another. I consider "migration" as a metaphor for "development" (aging) as both imply movement from one temporal position to another as well as moving from one social position to another. The changes related to aging put an adult in a position similar to immigrants who occur abroad and need to make sense of their new positions in relation to their personal and cultural background and the immediate reality/context they live in. Migration and aging both lead to the innovative mixture of the meaning of old and new experiences/knowledge and the creation of new forms of selfhood and personal understanding at different temporal positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From a cultural political psychology perspective, Carriere (2022) emphasises the role of the individual and their meaning-making processes in the psychology of policy and politics (including the role of values and power dynamics). I propose a 'complex' semiotic cultural political psychology (SCPP) framework that reflects on and extends Carriere (2022). My complexity perspective involves 'self-organising' relations within persons (a sense of 'I') and within cultures (a sense of 'We') and 'socio-culturally organising' relations between persons (a sense of 'Me') and between cultures (a sense of 'Us'). I apply the SCPP framework to the issue of environmental sustainability policy. I contend there are intra- and inter-personal and intra-and inter-cultural values on the issue/s of environmental sustainability policy. International research supports Carriere's focus on personal ('I am' versus 'We are') values in environmental policy but this effect may be most prevalent in the US context. On social power in personal and cultural sustainability, empirical research points to 'power struggles' and 'vested interests' as the main problems for people. Also, from research it is deduced that (complex) environmental sustainability policy and governance need to empower people (individuals and groups) and avert unintended power dynamics, appreciating the co-occurring cultural nuances at work. It is concluded that my semiotic cultural political psychology reflections on Carriere introduces a potentially integrative 'complexity' perspective to psychological and behavioural science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boredom is the phenomenon most adolescent students have been struggling with, especially during the pandemic; they were regularly mandated to stay in a new normal way. This research aimed to study the life experience of boredom towards online activities leading to dysfunctional behaviours of teens, to survey the preference for online learning methods of Thai adolescent students, and to create a virtual reality classroom for English writing classes. The first study, transcendental phenomenology, included ten teens between 13 and 18 years old selected by purposive sampling. In study, 285 Thai teens were recruited to answer the questionnaire, and the last phase included five experts to discuss the strategies for creating a VR classroom. The research findings indicated that most adolescent students experiencing boredom with online activities defined "boredom" in two ways: blackout and refuelling. The experiences of boredom during COVID-19 led to dysfunctional behaviours such as cheating, aggression, and procrastination. The essence appeared to be two conterminous elements: boredom towards "contents" and "forms". The survey research findings indicated that almost 50% of the respondents preferred online learning in the form of virtual reality. The researcher, hence, created a four-station-learning VR classroom for English writing class, considering four elements: contents and learning activities, environmental design, multimedia invention, and online platform. All discoveries can be applied to many fields, such as behavioural science, psychology, education, and science and technology, to ignite the idea and enhance online learning to become more motivating and reduce adolescent students' boredom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having large sets of predictor variables from multiple sources concerning the same individuals is becoming increasingly common in behavioral research. On top of the variable selection problem, predicting a categorical outcome using such data gives rise to an additional challenge of identifying the processes at play underneath the predictors. These processes are of particular interest in the setting of multi-source data because they can either be associated individually with a single data source or jointly with multiple sources. Although many methods have addressed the classification problem in high dimensionality, the additional challenge of distinguishing such underlying predictor processes from multi-source data has not received sufficient attention. To this end, we propose the method of Sparse Common and Distinctive Covariates Logistic Regression (SCD-Cov-logR). The method is a multi-source extension of principal covariates regression that combines with generalized linear modeling framework to allow classification of a categorical outcome. In a simulation study, SCD-Cov-logR resulted in outperformance compared to related methods commonly used in behavioral sciences. We also demonstrate the practical usage of the method under an empirical dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mediation analysis is used to assess the direct effect of an exposure on an outcome, and the indirect effect transmitted by a third intermediate variable. Longitudinal data are the most suited to address mediation, since they allow mediational effects to manifest over time. There exist several approaches to deal with longitudinal mediation analysis, and one of the most widely spread, especially in social and behavioural sciences, consists of using multilevel models. However, when applied to mediational settings, these models present some limitations that can be overcome moving to a structural perspective. In this paper we propose a new formalisation of multilevel models within a structural framework combining the reticular action model notation and the definition variable approach. We reconsider two multilevel mediation designs very frequent in longitudinal settings from this structural perspective, discuss the advantages and limitations of such an approach and provide an empirical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]