Psychological situations illuminate the meaning of human behavior: Recent advances and application to social influence processes

The effect of exercise intention on exercise behavior in the post-epidemic era: The moderator role of openness personality and the mediated role of exercise-induced feeling

Objective

Based on the theory of planned behavior, this study introduced personality traits and exercise-induced feelings and other third variables, aiming to explore the mechanism of personality traits and exercise-induced feelings between exercise intention and exercise behavior, and explore the internal mechanism of promoting exercise behavior of junior high school students.

Methods

This research adopts the Exercise Intention Questionnaire, Simple Big Five Personality Scale, Exercise-induced Feeling Inventory and Exercise Rating Scale, from the three cities of Anhui province 1,166 junior high school students selected from the group psychological measurement, and uses the SPSS23.0 and Process plug-in exercise intention in exercise behavior analysis of the direct and indirect effect.

Results

The results showed that: (1) Exercise intention significantly positively predicted exercise behavior (β = 0.265, t = 4.261, p < 0.01). (2) The moderating effect of openness personality between exercise intention and exercise behavior was significant (β = 0.093, t = 4.431, p < 0.01). (3) Exercise-induced feelings has a significant mediating effect on the relationship between exercise intention and exercise behavior regulated by openness personality.

Conclusion

Exercise intention can effectively predict exercise behavior, and the prediction level is affected by openness personality, and the moderating effect of openness personality is partially realized through the mediating variable of exercise-induced feelings.

Broadening Versus Deepening: Gender and Brokering in Social Networks

Do women and men differ in their brokering behavior? Integrating the literatures on gender, self-construal, and social networks, we theorize that gender differences in relational interdependence produce different patterns of helpful brokering among women versus men. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that tie strength moderates the effect of gender on two types of helpful brokering: helping others form new network ties (intermediary brokering) and helping others repair strained network ties (conciliatory brokering). In both experiments, the observed gender by tie strength interactions were driven by gender differences in network-broadening behavior (i.e., willingness to help weak ties) rather than network-deepening behavior (i.e., willingness to help strong ties). Experiment 2 provides evidence that differences in relational self-construal mediate the effect of gender on brokering behavior. We discuss the implications of these findings for gender inequality in organizations and in society.

Modeling Evaluations of Low-Level Sounds in Everyday Situations Using Linear Machine Learning for Variable Selection

Human sound evaluations not only depend on the characteristics of the sound but are also driven by factors related to the listener and the situation. Our research aimed to investigate crucial factors influencing the perception of low-level sounds as they—in addition to the often-researched loud-level sounds—might be decisive to people’s quality of life and health. We conducted an online study in which 1,301 participants reported on up to three everyday situations in which they perceived low-level sounds, resulting in a total of 2,800 listening situations. Participants rated the sounds’ perceived loudness, timbre, and tonality. Additionally, they described the listening situations employing situational eight dimensions and reported their affective states. All sounds were then assigned to the categories natural, human, and technical. Linear models suggest a significant difference of annoyance ratings across sound categories for binary loudness levels. The ability to mentally fade-out sound was the most crucial situational variable after valence, arousal, and the situation dimensions positivity and negativity. We ultimately selected the most important factors from a large number of independent variables by applying the percentile least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) regularization method. The resulting linear regression showed that this novel machine-learning variable-selection technique is applicable in hypothesis testing of noise effects and soundscape research. The typical problems of overfitting and multicollinearity that occur when many situational and personal variables are involved were overcome. This study provides an extensive database of evaluated everyday sounds and listening situations, offering an enormous test power. Our machine learning approach, whose application leads to comprehensive models for the prediction of sound perception, is available for future study designs aiming to model sound perception and evaluation.

Asymmetric conflict: Structures, strategies, and settlement

Our target article modeled conflict within and between groups as an asymmetric game of strategy and developed a framework to explain the evolved neurobiological, psychological, and sociocultural mechanisms underlying attack and defense. Twenty-seven commentaries add insights from diverse disciplines, such as animal biology, evolutionary game theory, human neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and political science, that collectively extend and supplement this model in three ways. Here we draw attention to the superordinate structure of attack and defense, and its subordinate means to meet the end of status quo maintenance versus change, and we discuss (1) how variations in conflict structure and power disparities between antagonists can impact strategy selection and behavior during attack and defense; (2) how the positions of attack and defense emerge endogenously and are subject to rhetoric and propaganda; and (3) how psychological and economic interventions can transform attacker-defender conflicts into coordination games that allow mutual gains and dispute resolution.