The manic phase of Bipolar disorder significantly impairs theory of mind decoding

Theory of mind in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Hinting Task

ABSTRACTIntroduction: The quality of measures used to assess theory of mind (ToM) in severe mental illness has not been sufficiently investigated. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Hinting Task in schizophrenia, bipolar I and II disorder and healthy controls.Methods: The study included 90 patients and 183 healthy controls. Internal consistency, ceiling effects, discriminatory power and concurrent and construct validity were investigated.Results: The Hinting Task displayed adequate levels of internal consistency for schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. Ceiling effects emerged in all groups except the schizophrenia group. Schizophrenia patients scored significantly lower than all other groups, but no other significant group differences were detected. In the schizophrenia group, the Hinting Task's concurrent validity was substantiated by significant correlations with measures of neurocognition, symptoms and functional capacity. In the bipolar disorder groups, however, only a few significant relationships were found. Correlations between the Hinting Task and a measure of emotion recognition indicated that construct validity was higher for schizophrenia than bipolar disorder.Conclusions: The results suggest that the Norwegian Hinting Task is suited for use in schizophrenia research and assessment, but caution is warranted when using the test for other populations.

Theory of mind in remitted bipolar disorder: Interpersonal accuracy in recognition of dynamic nonverbal signals

A relatively unexplored aspect in bipolar disorder (BD) is the ability to accurately judge other´s nonverbal behavior. To explore this aspect of social cognition in this population is particularly meaningful, as it may have an influence in their social and interpersonal functioning. The aim of this research was to study interpersonal accuracy (IPA) in remitted BDs, that is, the specific skills that fall under the general term Theory of Mind (ToM). Study participants included 119 remitted individuals with BD (70 BD I and 49 BD II), and they were compared with a group of 39 persons diagnosed with unipolar depression (UD) and 119 control participants. The MiniPONS was used to test the whole spectrum of nonverbal cues as facial expressions, body language and voice. Results indicated a superiority of the control group with statistically significant differences both in the performance in the MiniPONS (number of right answers) and in each of the areas evaluated by this test. BD groups, in recognition of the meaning of gestures in face, body and voice intonation, performed significantly worse than controls. ANCOVA analysis controlling the effect of age shows that control group performed significantly better compared to clinical groups, and there were no differences between UD and BD groups. The results indicate a deficit in IPA and suggest that better comprehension of deficiencies in interpersonal accuracy in BD may help to develop new training programs to improve in these patients the understanding of others, which might have a positive impact in their psychosocial functionality, and thus lead to the objective of functional rehabilitation.

Do Emotional Laborers Help the Needy More or Less? The Mediating Role of Sympathy in the Effect of Emotional Dissonance on Prosocial Behavior

Despite the growing body of research on emotional labor, little has been known about the social consequences of emotional labor. Drawing on emotional dissonance theory, the authors investigate the relationship between the felt emotional dissonance and prosocial behavior (e.g., donation to a charity). Findings from multiple studies suggest that higher emotional dissonance serially influences perceived lack of control, emotional exhaustion, lowered sympathy for others' feeling, and subsequently lower willingness to help others. When individuals are asked to recall their past experiences of emotional dissonance, they expressed lack of control and emotional exhaustion (Study 3), lower sympathy for others' feeling (Studies 1, 3), and subsequently become less willing to help others both in their intention (Studies 2A and 3) and with actual money (Study 2B). Further, this negative relationship is moderated by the display rules (i.e., surface acting vs. deep acting, Study 3). Managerial and public policy implications are discussed.

What your eyes tell me: Theory of mind in bipolar disorder

The aim of this study was to assess social- perceptual Theory of Mind in bipolar disorder (BD). 112 euthymic participants with BD I or BD II (65 with BD I and 47 with BD II) were compared to a group of 112 persons with no psychiatric diagnosis and 43 with unipolar depression (UD). They completed the task of the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" (RMET). The results show that participants with BD, I and II, as well as the group with UD performed significantly more poorly than the control group. As for the wrong answers, BDs mostly chose positive valence stimuli, while the UD group chose negative valence items. The main limitation of this research is related to the characteristics of the cross-sectional study. It cannot detect at what time of the disorder these differences in emotion processing will appear with more intensity. As for future research, we suggest interventions to improve the deficits in ToM in bipolar persons. The use of the RMET in the first stages of BD II could help to facilitate a correct diagnosis.

Eye gaze perception in bipolar disorder: Self-referential bias but intact perceptual sensitivity

OBJECTIVES

Deficits in social cognition predict poor functional outcome in severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and autism. However, research findings on social cognition in bipolar disorder (BD) are sparse and inconsistent. This study aimed to characterize a critical social cognitive process-eye gaze perception-and examine its functional correlates in BD to inform psychopathological mechanisms.

METHODS

Thirty participants with BD, 37 healthy controls (HC), and 46 psychiatric controls with schizophrenia (SZ) completed an eye-contact perception task. They viewed faces with varying gaze directions, head orientations, and emotion, and made eye-contact judgments. Psychophysics methods were used to estimate perception thresholds and the slope of the perception curve, which were then compared between the groups and correlated with clinical and functional measures using Bayesian inference.

RESULTS

Compared with HC, patients with BD over-perceived eye contact when gaze direction was ambiguous, and this self-referential bias was similar to that in SZ. Patients with BD had lower thresholds (i.e., needed weaker eye-contact signal to start perceiving gaze as self-directed) but a similar slope compared with HC. Regression analyses showed that steeper slope predicted better socio-emotional functioning in HC and SZ, but not in BD.

CONCLUSIONS

The psychopathology of social dysfunction was fundamentally different between BD and SZ in this modest sample. Eye gaze perception in BD was characterized by a self-referential bias but preserved perceptual sensitivity, the latter of which distinguished BD from SZ. The relationship between gaze perception and broader socio-emotional functioning in SZ and HC was absent in BD.

Paranoia as an Antecedent and Consequence of Getting Ahead in Organizations: Time-Lagged Effects Between Paranoid Cognitions, Self-Monitoring, and Changes in Span of Control

A 6-month, time-lagged online survey among 441 employees in diverse industries was conducted to investigate the role paranoia plays as an antecedent and as a consequence of advancement in organizations. The background of the study is the argument that it requires active social sense-making and behavioral adaptability to advance in organizations. The present paper thus explores the extent to which employees' paranoid cognitions-representative of a heightened albeit suspicious sense-making and behavioral adaptability-link with their advancement in organizations (operationalized as changes in afforded span of control), both as an antecedent and an outcome. Following the strategy to illuminate the process by interaction analysis, both conditions (antecedent and outcome) are examined in interaction with employees' self-monitoring, which is considered representative of a heightened but healthy sense-making and behavioral adaptability. Results support the expected interference interaction between paranoid cognitions and self-monitoring in that each can to some degree compensate for the other in explaining employees' organizational advancement. Reversely, changes in span of control also affected paranoid cognitions. In particular, low self-monitors, i.e., those low in adaptive sense-making, reacted with heightened paranoid cognitions when demoted. In effect, the present study is thus the first to empirically support that paranoid cognitions can be a consequence but also a prerequisite for getting ahead in organizations. Practical advice should, however, be suspended until it is better understood whether and under what circumstances paranoia may relate not only to personally getting ahead but also to an increased effectiveness for the benefit of the organization.

Power and Autistic Traits

Autistic traits can help people gain and sustain power, and has probably done so throughout history, says the present paper. A number of testable claims follow from this assumption. First, the powerful should have more autistic traits than others - which they do appear to have. Among other things, powerful people, and those with many autistic traits, tend to prefer solitary activities and are often aloof. Moreover, they are often rigid and socially insensitive, low on empathy and with low scores on the trait of agreeableness - and as a rule they do not have many friends. Both groups are also more self-centered than others, more honest, less submissive, more sensitive to slights, and with a stronger tendency to engage in abstract thinking. They tend to behave in bossy or dominant ways, and their moral judgment is more based on rules than on feelings. In addition to experimental evidence, I cite biographies showing that a surprising number of presidents, prime ministers and other powerful people seem to have had traits like those in question - and interestingly, in animals, leaders are often rigid and insensitive to group members' needs and feelings, mostly acting the way they are themselves inclined to, not responding much to others. Problem solving is important in leadership, and people with many autistic traits appear often to be better thinkers than typical subjects with similar IQs. However, these and other congruities could be coincidences. Hence the question of whether traits the two groups have in common also have a common cause constitutes a strong test of the paper's thesis - and a common cause does appear to exist, in the form of testosterone's effects on the central nervous system. Finally, there is evidence that, other things equal, powerful men have more reproductive success than others. If men wielding power do indeed have more autistic traits than those less powerful, this will lead to, other things equal, such traits becoming more common - which can help explain the prevalence of autistic traits.