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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 [...]

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 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.)

Neural degeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) leads to structural topology deformation that in turn changes brain functionality. The main aim of the present study is to find the brain's functional connectivity network (FCN) correlates of Alzheimer's psychological test scores. To this end, the brain's FCN is extracted from the resting state functional magnetic resonance images (rs-fMRI) of healthy controls and patients with AD and represented as a graph. Then, network measures are calculated from the graphs. The correlations between the brain network measures and five AD psychological assessment test scores are evaluated. The results show positive correlation between the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and nodal strength in the left insula and negative correlation between the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score and local efficiency of left olfactory cortex and also eigenvector centrality of left supramarginal cortex. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) also seems to be correlated with network measures of the left superior parietal gyrus. Moreover, notable decreased continuity are spotted in the limbic system. These measures can be used to provide an objective tool for AD diagnosis.