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Gelotophobes are typically characterized by the fear of laughter, social withdrawal, and humorlessness, possibly related to negative experiences of being laughed at in the past. The present study seeks to expand our understanding of gelotophobia through a relatively novel approach: using eye-tracking to investigate the attentional bias of gelotophobes and non-gelotophobes towards negative emotion words that do and do not contain the Chinese character for 'laugh,' by comparing responses to negative ridicule words (RID), negative contempt words (CONT), positive pleasure words (PLE) and neutral words (NEU). Results of the start time of the first run of fixations showed that gelotophobes and non-gelotophobes both focused on negative words before other words. Gelotophobes' attentional bias towards RID and CONT was greater than that of non-gelotophobes in first gaze duration, percentage of total viewing duration, total fixation count, and run count, suggesting that gelotophobes had greater difficulty in disengaging their attention from negative to neutral words. Non-gelotophobes' attentional bias, however, towards negative ridicule neutral words (RID-NEU) and negative contempt neutral words (CONT-NEU) was greater than that of gelotophobes, suggesting that non-gelotophobes were more able to shift attention from negative to neutral words. Moreover, gelotophobes paid significantly more attention to RID than CONT, suggesting that gelotophobes displayed a longer and stronger attentional bias towards RID (containing the 'laugh' character). Interestingly, there was no difference for PLE between gelotophobes and non-gelotophobes. The present study contributes to our understanding of the attentional bias of gelotophobes and non-gelotophobes towards emotion words., Author(s): Yen-Lin Lee [sup.1] , Hsueh-Chih Chen [sup.2] [sup.3] [sup.4] [sup.5] , Yu-Chen Chan [sup.6] [sup.7] [sup.8] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.38348.34, 0000 0004 0532 0580, Institute of Learning Sciences and [...]

Gelotophobia, or the fear of being laughed at, is the inability to enjoy positive aspects of humor and laughter. Most studies have been carried out on adults, but recently research on gelotophobia has turned to adolescents. The present cross-cultural study aimed to get the first comparative data on Italian (N = 1098, 13-20 y.o.) and Russian (N = 388, 12-17 y.o.) youths utilizing the GELOPH questionnaire. The results supported a one-factor structure of the gelotophobia scale for both the Italian and Russian samples, and its cross-cultural invariance in terms of structure and factor loadings. The scale showed good reliability in both the Italian ([alpha] = 0.79) and Russian samples ([alpha] = 0.78). The results revealed differences in agreement to specific items, which are more or less central to the description of gelotophobia in each country. Nonetheless, more similarities than differences emerged between Italian and Russian adolescents, in line with previous studies. A complicated interaction was shown for gelotophobia, age and gender factors, which could have higher impact than the possible cross-cultural differences. Nonetheless, in general, the fear of being laughed at showed higher levels during childhood, begin decreasing with age during the period of adolescence and it becomes lower in adults. Negative correlation between gelotophobia and humor coping was found in the Italian sample, which showed significant results in girls and in 18-age-years-old boys. It could be hypothesized that gelotophobia is inherent for the period of adolescence, when it has a universal pattern. The present findings have implications for identifying adolescents who need special attention., Author(s): Laura Vagnoli [sup.1] , Ekaterina Stefanenko [sup.2] , Daniela Graziani [sup.1] , Mirko Duradoni [sup.3] , Alyona Ivanova [sup.2] [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.413181.e, 0000 0004 1757 8562, Pediatric [...]

Gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at) is an individual difference variable that relates to a particular set of emotional reactions, behaviors, and processes towards laughter and ridicule that are potentially detrimental to learning processes. We extend the research of gelotophobia to the educational domain by exploring the direct effect of gelotophobia on willingness to communicate (WTC) and second-language (L2) achievement. We hypothesized that communication anxiety might have an indirect effect on the relation between gelotophobia and WTC and L2 achievement. A sample of 483 Iranian high school students completed measures of gelotophobia, WTC, and communication anxiety. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that gelotophobia was negatively related to both L2 achievement and WTC. Further, communication anxiety showed the expected indirect effect on the gelotophobia-WTC association. Finally, we incorporated teacher-ratings of students' gelotophobia and found that (a) the accuracy of teachers' impressions was comparatively low and (b) that higher accuracy was associated with better L2 achievement. We argue that because of fear of anticipated derision in performance situations such as speaking an L2, gelotophobic L2 learners might adopt a withdrawal strategy by avoiding the social situation altogether. Hence, L2 teachers should be aware that not all students enjoy humor and laughter, and they are recommended to use humor judiciously without laughing at students, and to adapt to students' engagement and perceptions of laughter., Author(s): Elyas Barabadi [sup.1] , Kay Brauer [sup.2] , René T. Proyer [sup.2] , Mohsen Rahmani Tabar [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.488432.1, 0000 0004 5935 1577, University of Bojnord, , [...]

Ecological and health-related issues have given rise to scholars and investigators' concerns in exploring the determinantal effects of organic food. But little attention has paid to the actual buying behaviour regarding organic foods; especially in developing economies such as Pakistan. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the actual consumer's purchasing behaviour about organic food. A theoretical framework based on green perceived value was developed to observe the study's objectives that determine the consumers' buying behaviour and intention. The moderating effects of food neophobia was also analyzed. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach is used for analysis, and data collection was made from millennial, which is considered the most significant consumer part in Pakistan. Answers of 1324 university students indicate that all values, i.e., social (0.101), functional (0.314), conditional (0.228), and emotional (0.521) has a significant and positive impact on buying intent of users. Furthermore, consumers' intention to buy organic produce (0.282) is positively linked with buying behaviour, and food neophobia (0.091) also moderates positively between intention to purchase and organic food consumption. Moreover, the current study offers valuable insights to manufacturers, researchers, and advertisers of natural food. The study concluded the suggestions for future studies, and the limitations of the study are also stated., Author(s): Umair Kashif [sup.1] , Chen Hong [sup.1] , Snovia Naseem [sup.1] , Waris Ali Khan [sup.2] , Muhammad Waqar Akram [sup.1] , Khalil Ur Rehman [sup.3] , Shahla Andleeb [...]

Nomophobia is considered as the 'disorder of modern world' and defined as 'fear of being without access to a mobile phone.' This study investigated gender differences in the relationship between problematic Internet use and nomophobia. Structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed to assess the relationship between nomophobia and four dimensions of the problematic Internet use, including diminished impulse control, loneliness/depression, social comfort, and distraction. The study used the Online Cognition Scale (OCS) and Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) to collect data from 490 undergraduate students. Results indicated that loneliness/depression, distraction, and diminished impulse control were significantly related to nomophobia. However, there was not a significant relationship between social comfort and nomophobia. Further, multi group analysis results suggested notable gender differences in the relationship between problematic Internet use and nomophobia. The results for women indicated that loneliness/depression, diminished-impulse control, and distraction have a positive and significant relationship with nomophobia. Whereas only loneliness/depression and distraction were found to be significantly related to nomophobia among men. The results indicated a statistically significant difference in nomophobia and problematic Internet use between women and men subjects, where women subjects scored higher than the men., Author(s): Ibrahim Arpaci [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.411550.4, 0000 0001 0689 906X, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University, , Tokat, Turkey Introduction > The term nomophobia [...]

Our understand of gelotophobia remains incomplete, as samples seldom include large numbers of individuals with marked and extreme fear, due to their low prevalence. Consequently, little is known about how they differ from those at the lower end of the continuum of fear. With the aim of expanding on the study of Platt (2008 (See CR8)), in the current study, participants covering the spectrum from no fear, slight, marked and extreme gelotophobia were randomly assigned to the Ridicule Teasing Scenarios questionnaire (RTSq; n = 295) or the Gelotophobia Checklist (GC; n = 143). When answering the RTSq, extreme gelotophobes, compared to marked gelotophobes, experienced more surprise and higher shame (but not higher fear) in response to ridicule. Furthermore, for these individuals the teasing scenarios elicited lower joy, higher surprise, shame and fear. The GC revealed that extreme gelotophobes have higher subjective intensity ratings of fear than marked but they did not differ in the number of physical symptoms experienced. Gelotophobes tend to experience muscle tension, sweating and blushing most frequently when encountering laughter. These findings will assist with developing programs for helping gelotophobes manage both their fear and the resulting symptoms., Author(s): Tracey Platt [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.7110.7, 0000000105559901, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing, University of Sunderland, , City Campus, Chester Road, SR1 3SD, Sunderland, UK [...]