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Empathy is considered a multidimensional construct, including cognitive and affective aspects. Among the multidimensional empathy measures, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) has been widely studied in different cultures. However, neither IRI nor any other empathy questionnaires are translated and validated in the Iranian community. In the first study, we aimed to provide a Farsi version of IRI and examine its psychometric properties. In addition to the conventional method of Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling was used to evaluate the structural validity of IRI. Despite the promising internal, convergent, and divergent validity, the 28-item IRI did not show a good fit to the original structure. Hence, exploratory factor analysis was used to create a 16-item IRI, and this measure was evaluated in the second study. The results confirmed that the 16-item IRI is valid in terms of factor analysis (CFI = .903), and internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha in range of .67 to .71). Further, Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling was proved to be superior compared to Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Several questionnaires were used to evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity. Empathic concern was positively correlated with agreeableness and negatively correlated with difficulty in identifying and describing feelings and Machiavellianism. Personal distress was positively correlated with negative affect and negative emotion regulation strategies and negatively correlated with emotional stability. A positive correlation was found between perspective taking and self-esteem, and between fantasy and openness. Females scored higher in empathic concern and personal distress. Finally, good test-retest reliability was found in the intervals of three- (.66 - .86) and six-months (.71 - .84). This measure facilitates the studies conducted in the Iranian community and adds to the literature by assessing the validity of IRI in a different culture. Findings and limitations are discussed with regard to the literature., Author(s): Soroosh Golbabaei [sup.1] , Mina Barati [sup.1] , Morteza Erfani Haromi [sup.1] , Nasim Ghazazani [sup.1] , Khatereh Borhani [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.412502.0, 0000 0001 0686 4748, Institute [...]

There is a surge of research on the link between attachment and the selective processing of pictorial stimuli. However, the pictures that are often presented in the experimental paradigms have not been specifically related to attachment and moreover, have not been validated and unified based on different dimensions of emotion. Therefore, preparing coherent and validated sets of attachment-related pictures in this field is needed. In the current study we developed a novel and comprehensive pictorial database of attachment stimuli. We created four positive and four negative attachment-related categories (caring, warm parent-child relationships, warm familial and peer relationships, romantic relationships, separation, loneliness and rejection, maltreatment, and loss). Next, we collected 406 attachment relevant pictures and 53 neutral ones. The pictures were rated by 310 students (142 men) with a mean age of 26.42 (SD = 3.45) based on four dimensions of valence (pleasant- unpleasant), arousal (calm or excited), category-relevance, and attachment-relevance. Normative ratings on the four dimensions are presented for each category. Split-half reliability indicated high internal consistency of participant's response to the pictures in all dimensions. This comprehensive pictorial set can be widely used especially in research addressing information processing in attachment., Author(s): Gheysar Maleki [sup.1] , Mohammad Ali Mazaheri [sup.1] , Vahid Nejati [sup.1] , Khatereh Borhani [sup.2] , Guy Bosmans [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) Department of Clinical Psychology, Shahid Behashti [...]

Generic descriptions (e.g., 'girls are emotional') are argued to play a major role in the development of essentialist reasoning about social categories. Although generics are prevalent across languages, studies exploring if and how generic language leads to essentialism have almost exclusively been conducted in English‐speaking communities and among Western samples. This is a significant limitation as scholars posit that generic language is a universal cue that signals which categories are culturally relevant. However, without research asking whether generics have similar consequences across diverse cultural and linguistic contexts, it is impossible to make a claim of universality. Here, we will fill this gap, by replicating and extending a previous U.S.‐based study assessing the effects of generic language in a sample of Persian‐speaking 6 to 9‐year‐old children (N = 160) and adults (N = 160) in Iran. Participants will hear generic ('Foolies') or specific ('This Foolie') statements (between subjects) that ascribe biological or cultural features to the novel social category of Foolies. We will measure the degree to which exposure to these statements leads to kindhood reasoning (i.e., offering formal explanations for category features) and essentialist reasoning in terms of inheritability. Identifying similar patterns in the Iranian sample as in prior US‐based work will support the hypothesis that generic language signals category importance and licences kindhood but does not contribute directly to reasoning about social categories as biologically inheritable. This work contributes to diversifying the field and critically informs theories of social essentialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results remain mixed regarding the effects of incubation tasks on divergent thinking, a type of creativity, generally assessed via the Unusual Uses Task (UUT). Using a within-subjects design, we compared 64 participants' performance on the UUT, after four different incubation tasks: copy a simple painting, copy a complex painting, 0-back-task, and rest. We hypothesized that an arts-related activity during incubation (here: copy a painting) would boost subsequent creativity. Five different creativity scores were computed from the raw UUT data, and we provide a step-by-step guide for how to compute these: fluency, flexibility, originality, subjective creativity, and usefulness. Creativity was only modulated by sex; women outperformed men on creative fluency. No other variables, nor the incubations, modulated any of participants' creativity scores. A within-group comparison showed that the unusual uses of our all-Iranian participants were more useful than unique, echoing previous work suggesting differences between Eastern and Western conceptions of creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social exclusion is an emotionally painful experience that leads to various alterations in socio-emotional processing. The perceptual and emotional consequences that may arise from experiencing social exclusion can vary depending on the paradigm used to manipulate it. Exclusion paradigms can vary in terms of the severity and duration of the leading exclusion experience, thereby classifying it as either a short-term or long-term experience. The present study aimed to study the impact of exclusion on socio-emotional processing using different paradigms that caused experiencing short-term and imagining long-term exclusion. Ambiguous facial emotions were used as socio-emotional cues. In study 1, the Ostracism Online paradigm was used to manipulate short-term exclusion. In study 2, a new sample of participants imagined long-term exclusion through the future life alone paradigm. Participants of both studies then completed a facial emotion recognition task consisting of morphed ambiguous facial emotions. By means of Point of Subjective Equivalence analyses, our results indicate that the experience of short-term exclusion hinders recognising happy facial expressions. In contrast, imagining long-term exclusion causes difficulties in recognising sad facial expressions. These findings extend the current literature, suggesting that not all social exclusion paradigms affect socio-emotional processing similarly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People express essentialist beliefs about social categories from an early age, but essentialist beliefs about specific social categories vary over development and in different contexts. Adapting two paradigms used with Western samples to measure social essentialism, we examined the development of essentialist beliefs about seven social categories (gender, race, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and team fan bases) among 5- to 10-year-old children (N = 88) and adults (N = 273) in Iran, a population that is underrepresented in psychology research. Focusing on natural-kind reasoning, we investigated the relative contribution of biological perception of social categories as well as cultural and motivational factors in the development of essentialist beliefs about these categories. Our findings suggest that biological perception of social categories plays a key role and that cultural and motivational factors become more relevant in essentialist reasoning about social categories that are not perceived as biologically marked. The developmental patterns of essentialist reasoning in our study also closely parallel those found in other cultures, namely the United States and Turkey, further suggesting the primary role of biological perception of social categories in natural-kind reasoning about the social world. Public Significance Statement: Social essentialist bias contributes to negative attitudes and behaviors such as prejudice and discrimination. This article investigates factors, including biological perception of social categories, cultural input, and motivational factors, in the development of social essentialism in Iran, an understudied population in psychology research. The article also compares this bias among Iranian adults and children to adults and children in the United States and Turkey. The findings show that across all three cultures, biological perception of social categories plays a prominent role in essentialism, but cultural and motivational factors add interesting nuance to patterns of social essentialism, especially with respect to social categories that are not perceived as biologically underpinned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People differ in their responsiveness to aesthetic experiences. It is important to understand the role of culture in such individual differences, yet existing tools for assessing aesthetic responsiveness largely focus on North American and European cultures. We created a Farsi translated and culturally adapted version of the Aesthetic Responsiveness Assessment (AReA) and evaluated its psychometric properties. Construct validity and internal consistency were evaluated in a sample of 1,586 participants. Moreover, convergent and discriminant validity were investigated using the Behavioral Avoidance/Inhibition Scales (BIS-BAS), Big Five Inventory-2, Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ), and the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS). Further, the test–retest reliability of AReA was examined for the first time in a subsample of participants (n = 160) who answered the questionnaire again after 6 months. In addition to an acceptable structural validity (comparative fit index, CFI =.905), the Farsi version of AReA showed good internal consistency. Cronbach's α for the overall score was.848 and varied between.64 and.81 for subscales. Concerning convergent and discriminant validity, AReA subscales were positively correlated with subscales of TEPS, the Emotion Evocation subscale of BMRQ, Behavioral Avoidance, and Openness, and were unrelated to Behavioral Inhibition, Conscientiousness, and Negative Emotionality. Moreover, AReA subscales showed different patterns of correlations with other questionnaires. Finally, all subscales of AReA showed high test–retest reliability, ranging from.715 to.778. Our results confirm the validity of the Farsi version of AReA and provide a new measure of aesthetic responsiveness, useful in Farsi-speaking communities, which facilitates cross-cultural research in empirical aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk-taking is a prominent aspect of adolescent behavior. A recent neurodevelopmental model suggests that this trait could influence prosocial and antisocial decision-making, proposing a new category known as prosocial and antisocial risk-taking. The primary objective of this study was to examine the electrophysiological underpinnings of prosocial and antisocial risk-taking in adolescence, a developmental period characterized by elevated risky, prosocial, and antisocial decisions. To this end, 32 adolescents aged 13-19 years completed a modified dictator game to choose between three options, representing prosocial and antisocial risk-taking constructs and a risk-free fair one. At the behavioral level, adolescents favored antisocial risky decisions over prosocial risky ones. ERP results at the electrophysiological level in the response selection stage demonstrated that decision preceding negativity was more negative-going before making prosocial risky decisions than other decisions. During the feedback evaluation stage, feedback-related negativity was the least negative after selecting the antisocial risky option and receiving successful feedback. However, choosing the fair option and receiving neutral feedback resulted in the most negative feedback-related negativity. Moreover, P300 showed the most positive mean amplitude following the selection of the antisocial risky option and facing successful feedback, with the lowest positive amplitude observed after choosing the fair option and encountering neutral feedback. These results underscore the distinct electrophysiological underpinnings associated with prosocial and antisocial decisions involving risks., (© 2025 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.)