Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds transformative potential for addressing persistent limitations in traditional psychological health education systems, particularly constraints related to accessibility, uneven distribution of resources, and the lack of personalized support. However, critical concerns persist regarding their reliability, interpretability, and fairness, particularly in high-stakes scenarios such as psychological guidance.
This study employed a word embedding-based Comprehensive Semantic Behavioral Analysis Framework (CSBAF) to systematically evaluate the semantic consistency, response strategies, and systemic bias of LLMs in psychological health education contexts. Grounded in the theory of verbal behavior, the framework conceptualizes AI-generated language as both informational content and social action. By integrating semantic structure analysis with contextual strategy evaluation over iterative interactions, the framework offered advantages over traditional evaluation criteria such as content accuracy, providing a deeper behavioral perspective on AI performance in psychologically sensitive domains. To operationalize this framework, we utilized DeepSeek as the primary model and conducted comparative testing with ChatGPT and Doubao to assess cross-model generalizability. The evaluation was based on 21 structured prompt templates adapted from established psychological education handbooks, encompassing key themes including depression, anxiety, general health, substance use, meaning and existence, lifestyle, and interpersonal relationship. Each model was evaluated under three sampling configurations, by adjusting the sampling parameters of temperature and top_p. For the semantic consistency assessment, responses were transformed into vector representations using Chinese word embeddings. Semantic similarity across 30 repeated dialogue iterations was quantified using the Frobenius norm and visualized using dimensionality reduction techniques (PCA and t-SNE). Clustering analysis was employed to identify and characterize distinct response strategies exhibited by each model. In addition, expert-based evaluation methods were employed to systematically assess the primary model across six dimensions: accuracy, clarity, relevance, empathy, engagement, and ethical considerations, with all assessments situated within the contextual frameworks of gender and ethnicity.
This study yielded three principal findings regarding the performance of LLMs in multi-turn psychological dialogue scenarios. First, in terms of semantic structural similarity, the primary model demonstrated a strong correlation between response patterns and question types. Although semantic distribution exhibited structural changes with adjustments in sampling parameters, the impact of question type on semantic stability surpassed that of parameter variations. Cross-model comparisons showed parameter settings play a major role in generative patterns. Nonetheless, for certain question types, the prompts remained the dominant factor influencing semantic behavior. Second, in terms of response strategies, each model showed relatively stable and distinguishable strategic preferences for specific question types, and these tendencies were closely related to model architecture and parameter settings. Third, in the bias analysis, male-context prompts were more likely to elicit information-focused responses, while female-context prompts triggered more emotionally expressive outputs. These results suggest the presence of implicit social role tendencies in LLMs.
In summary, these findings validate the practical potential of LLMs for augmenting psychological health education. Future research should further investigate how generative AI could be integrated into human-AI collaborative systems to better support educational practice.
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is profoundly reshaping society, presenting unprecedented opportunities for the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). While generative pre-trained models (e.g., the GPT series) demonstrate remarkable generalization in specialized domains, they remain narrow AI systems, still facing gaps in achieving AGI. Our previous work proposed that AGI demands adaptability to dynamic, embodied environments (Dynamic Embodied Physical and Social Interactive, DEPSI), characterized by infinite-task handling, autonomous task generation, and value-driven decision-making. However, translating abstract AGI definitions into practical testing frameworks remains a critical challenge. Here, we proposed a human intelligence-inspired developmental testing framework for AGI to assess its progression from general to applied capabilities.
First, in the general stage, AGI is expected to demonstrate cross-domain foundational cognitive abilities, such as common sense reasoning and adaptive learning, analogous to early childhood intelligence development (ages 0-6). By collecting and analyzing human developmental data, this study establishes a series of general tests to measure an AI system’s "cognitive age." Specifically, eight representative tasks were selected and implemented in a UE5-based virtual environment, including organizing a suitcase, tidying a desk, and solving puzzles, which cover the cognitive and motor skills expected of 5-6-year-olds. The environment features realistic domestic settings (e.g., kitchens and bedrooms) with interactive objects (e.g., appliances and furniture) and social agents (e.g., family members and teachers) to assess both physical reasoning and social intelligence. A human-user interface, incorporating VR and motion tracking, enables direct comparisons between AI and human performance. Four multimodal large models (GPT-4o, Claude-3.5, Qwen, and Doubao) were tested after being equipped with perception and action modules to interface with the virtual environment. Each task was repeated 10-15 times, with average scores computed for evaluation.
Key findings reveal critical limitations in current AI systems. A common limitation lies in their constrained embodied performance. While models approached baseline competence (30/100) in simpler tasks, such as understanding button functions, they struggled in complex, physically interactive tasks, including puzzle-solving and room cleaning. GPT-4o emerged as the strongest performer, leading in five tasks, but still exhibited significant shortcomings in motor coordination. Similarly, the models excelled in language-heavy tasks (e.g., selecting gifts) but underperformed in spatial and sequential-action tasks. This reflects their training bias toward static text/image data rather than dynamic, embodied interaction. The study concludes that current large language models, without specialized adaptation, lack the embodied intelligence required for human-like task execution. Future advancements must prioritize real-time sensory feedback, interactive learning, and improved physical simulation to bridge this gap.
Building upon this foundation of general abilities, we introduce a three-phase AGI testing framework: General-Specialized-Applicable (GSA). The specialized phase emphasizes autonomous learning and skill refinement in specific domains (e.g., Go, mathematics), enabling AI to tackle complex problem-solving and knowledge integration, much like human adolescents mastering specialized subjects. It is noteworthy that general and specialized capabilities are not mutually exclusive but exhibit a synergistic, spiral progression in AGI development. General capabilities form the foundational "operating system" of an agent, enabling cross-domain knowledge transfer and adaptive learning. Conversely, advancements in specialized domains refine this system through novel cognitive patterns and problem-solving methods. This bidirectional reinforcement creates a "general-specialized" spiral trajectory of AGI development. Looking back, traditional AI approaches often bypass general capabilities, focusing narrowly on specialized tasks (e.g., chess). To address this, we advocate a "layered development, dynamic balance" strategy: first achieving threshold general competence, then cultivating prioritized specialized skills while establishing feedback mechanisms to generalize domain insights. This approach prevents premature specialization ("ability silos") while ensuring practical utility, enabling continuous breakthroughs in both generality and expertise.
Finally, the applicable phase evaluates AGI’s generalization ability in real-world environments and industrial applications (e.g., robotics, autonomous driving), verifying whether it can seamlessly integrate into human society and serve practical needs.
Overall, the GSA framework aims to provide a potential systematic, human development-inspired standard for AGI evaluation, guiding its development toward intelligence that can sufficiently coexist with and benefit humanity. The GSA framework not only proposed a standardized AGI assessment but may also fostered trust by ensuring alignment with human-centric values and practical applicability, which may advance AGI toward safe and meaningful social integration.
This study investigated whether simple recurrent networks (SRNs) could learn abstract non-adjacent dependencies and generalize them across sequences of different lengths. Building on previous findings that highlight the human ability to unconsciously acquire and transfer non-adjacent structural dependencies (Jiang & Guan,
SRNs were trained using tonal sequences derived from the “level/oblique” (ping/ze) categorizations, reflecting prior cognitive categories available to human participants. The network architecture included input, hidden, and output layers, with feedback loops enabling temporal integration. A total of 150 SRN models were constructed by systematically varying three key parameters: the number of hidden units (5, 10, 15, 30, 60, or 120), learning rate (.1,.3,.5,.7, or.9), and momentum (.1,.3,.5,.7, or.9). Each model was subjected to 25 independent training sessions initialized with random weights, resulting in 3,750 simulations.
Models were exclusively trained on sequences of length 10 and subsequently tested on sequences of lengths 8, 10, and 12. Learning performance was assessed using cosine similarity scores between the network outputs and target sequences, and z-scores were calculated to quantify discrimination performance between grammatical and ungrammatical strings. Human benchmark data were sourced from Jiang and Guan (
The results revealed that trained SRNs significantly outperformed untrained models across all sequence lengths, confirming the successful acquisition of the nonlocal dependencies. Furthermore, a notable number of SRNs exhibited discrimination performance that fell within the typical human range: 35 models for the 8-element test set, 23 models for the 10-element set, and 38 models for the 12-element set. Notably, several SRN models demonstrated consistent human-like behavior across both trained and novel lengths. Specifically, five models aligned with human data in both the 8- and 10-length tests, and four models aligned in both the 10- and 12-length tests.
These findings suggest that, under specific parameter settings, SRNs were capable not only of learning abstract non-adjacent dependencies but also of transferring them flexibly to structurally novel sequences. Compared to earlier studies, which primarily demonstrated SRNs’ learning fixed-length correspondences, this study highlighted SRNs’ potential to acquire variable-variable mappings, reflecting the concept of “operations over variables” proposed by Marcus (
The introduction of tonal category labels (ping/ze) as non-terminal markers likely provided a cognitive scaffold that facilitated the abstraction of structural rules. This approach mirrored how human learners leveraged prior conceptual knowledge to enhance statistical learning, offering insights into the interaction between prior knowledge and the acquisition of novel patterns.
From a computational modeling perspective, the results implied that SRNs, despite their architectural simplicity, could mimic key aspects of human implicit learning, including structural abstraction and transfer. Furthermore, the ability of some SRNs to perform comparably to humans under specific conditions supported the use of SRNs as viable models for studying the cognitive mechanisms underlying implicit knowledge acquisition and generalization.
This study broadly contributed to bridging cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence research. The findings suggested that relatively simple recurrent architectures possess latent capacities for flexible generalization, an essential feature for developing AI systems capable of human-like learning. Additionally, by examining SRNs’ behavior on non-finite-state structures resembling those found in natural language, the study enriched our understanding of how internal memory dynamics support the processing of complex structures.
Overall, the present work advanced the field by systematically demonstrating the capacity of SRNs for abstract, nonlocal dependency learning and structural transfer. It provides empirical evidence for their utility in modeling implicit learning processes and contributes to theoretical foundations of future cognitive and AI modeling efforts.
Fear is an adaptive emotion that enables organisms to learn to distinguish threatening stimuli in complex natural environments. The "preparedness" theory posits that fear associations can be learned effortlessly, even without the conscious perception of fear-related stimuli. While previous studies have examined whether fear acquisition can be established without contingency awareness, this question remains largely unresolved. Several investigations have employed fear-related stimuli as conditioned stimuli (CS+) to study non-conscious fear acquisition. However, the preparedness theory itself lacks empirical validation, and no consensus exists on whether non-conscious fear acquisition necessarily requires fear-related stimuli. Generalized learning is defined as the retrieval of previously acquired stimulus information when responding to similar yet novel stimuli. Stimuli that humans encounter daily have specific meanings, and their retrieval depends both on conceptual relations and perceptual features. Previous studies mainly used perceptual materials with low ecological validity; therefore, examining the role of conceptual relations in generalization processes is essential for understanding fear overgeneralization in anxiety disorders. Fear can generalize to items that are conceptually linked to an initial fear experience. Concepts are organized either taxonomically through shared categorical features (e.g., fruit) or thematically through contextual associations within events or scenarios (e.g., desk and book). The focus of our study is to examine whether conditioned fear can be acquired by using fear-unrelated stimuli in the absence of awareness, and how different conceptual relations (thematic vs. taxonomic) and conceptual distance (near vs. far) influence subsequent fear generalization.
Twenty-seven healthy participants completed a fear generalization test with concurrent recording of neural activity via event-related potentials (ERPs). Shock expectancy ratings were used to assess the efficacy of non-conscious fear acquisition and examine conceptual generalization processes. The experimental design consisted of two consecutive phases: a non-conscious acquisition phase and a conscious generalization phase. During non-conscious acquisition, visual target stimuli were masked using a sandwich-masking paradigm; each presentation was preceded and followed by masking stimuli, rendering participants unaware of the conditioned stimuli and the CS-US contingency. Specifically, sparrow stimuli were designated as conditioned stimuli (CS+) paired with electric shocks (unconditioned stimulus, US), whereas car stimuli (CS-) remained unpaired. Stimulus assignment was counterbalanced across participants. To develop ecologically valid generalization stimuli (GS) based on conceptual relations, an independent cohort of 28 participants was recruited to complete a rating task. Forty potential stimulus exemplars per category were evaluated for their thematic or taxonomic association strength with the CS+ (sparrow). The three concepts demonstrating the highest and lowest thematic/taxonomic associations with the CS+ were selected as generalization stimuli (GS+ and GS-, respectively), thus yielding four stimulus classes: taxonomic GS+ (e.g., swan), taxonomic GS- (e.g., turtle), thematic GS+ (e.g., birdcage), and thematic GS- (e.g., sculpture).
Behavioral data reveal significantly higher shock expectancy for CS+ relative to CS- during non-conscious acquisition. ERP analyses demonstrate enhanced P300 amplitudes elicited by CS+ compared with CS-. During generalization, taxonomic relations evoke larger P2 components than thematic relations; notably, taxonomic GS+ stimuli produce significantly greater P2 amplitudes than thematic GS+ stimuli. Significantly larger P2 amplitudes are observed for taxonomic GS- relative to thematic GS-. When conditioned stimuli are presented supraliminally during generalization, the CS+ elicits higher shock expectancy and enhanced P600 components compared with the CS-.
These findings indicate that nonconscious fear acquisition can be established using neutral stimuli, thereby challenging the validity of the preparedness theory. Following non-conscious fear acquisition, broader generalization responses are elicited by taxonomic stimuli relative to thematic relations. Enhanced P600 amplitudes to the CS+ may reflect heightened semantic processing of the CS+ post-acquisition, which means non-consciously acquired fear demonstrates resistance to conscious extinction. These results demonstrate that fear acquisition occurs non-consciously with neutral stimuli, challenging preparedness theory, and reveal taxonomic relations drive broader fear generalization, elucidating mechanisms for anxiety interventions.
Depression is one of the most prevalent and disabling mental health disorders worldwide. While extensive research has examined the epidemiology and risk factors of depression, less is known about how the network structure and core symptoms of depression evolve across the lifespan. According to the network theory of mental disorders, depression is conceptualized as a network of interconnected symptoms, with some symptoms playing a central role in maintaining the disorder. However, it remains unclear whether these core symptoms remain stable or shift across different developmental stages. Using large-scale data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this study employs network analysis to examine the structural variations and symptom centrality of depression across different age groups, providing empirical evidence on the dynamic changes in depressive symptomatology over the lifespan.
A total of 34,668 participants aged 10 to 99 years were included in the study. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Chinese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The data were analyzed in SPSS 24.0 and R 4.0.4. Network structures were estimated for 16 different age groups. The network comparison test and global strength analysis were conducted to identify variations in depressive symptom networks across these groups.
The results revealed several critical findings. First, of the 121 network comparisons, 46 showed significant differences, suggesting that depressive symptom networks undergo substantial changes throughout the lifespan. Second, the global strength of depressive symptom networks increased with age, reaching its peak at 50~54 years before gradually declining in older age groups. This pattern indicates that midlife may represent a critical period of heightened vulnerability to depression due to accumulated stressors from career demands, family responsibilities, and social role transitions. Third, while “depressed mood”, “sadness”, and “loneliness” consistently ranked as highly central symptoms across all age groups, distinct core symptoms emerged at different developmental stages. During early adolescence (ages 10~12 years), "fearful" and "unhаpру" were the most central symptoms, reflecting the psychological challenges of academic stress and social comparison. In middle adolescence (ages 13~15 years), "people dislike" became a dominant symptom, aligning with increased sensitivity to peer relationships. For individuals in the transitional stages of middle adulthood and old age (ages 55-64 years), "unhаpру" emerged as a primary symptom, likely due to occupational burnout and financial pressures. In late adulthood (65-74 years), "get going" became the central symptom, consistent with age-related physical decline and decreased social engagement. Finally, among the oldest adults (aged 75 and older), "crying" emerged as a key symptom, possibly indicating increased emotional vulnerability.
These findings have significant implications for targeted interventions across the lifespan. Given the dynamic nature of depressive symptom networks, age-specific treatment strategies should be implemented. Early interventions for adolescents should focus on reducing social isolation, while workplace mental health programs may be essential for middle-aged individuals facing occupational stress. In contrast, interventions for older adults should prioritize enhancing social participation and addressing physical health challenges to prevent motivation loss and emotional distress. Moreover, network analysis demonstrated that as individuals age, depressive symptoms become more interconnected, contributing to an increase in global network strength. The peak in midlife suggests that individuals in this age group may be at the highest risk of persistent depression due to the cumulative burden of life stressors. However, the subsequent decline in network strength among older adults suggests that aging-related protective factors, such as social support, may help mitigate depressive symptom severity. This study advances our understanding of depression heterogeneity by systematically examining how symptom networks evolve across the lifespan. The findings highlight the importance of adopting a developmental perspective in depression research and clinical practice. Future studies should adopt longitudinal designs to examine how core symptoms evolve within individuals and how the overall network structure fluctuates in response to life transitions, ultimately informing more personalized and effective mental health interventions.
Teachers' regard refers to how teachers feel about their students during the teaching and learning process, including conditional negative regard, conditional positive regard, and unconditional regard. These three types of regard, arising from socialized agents and manifesting through controlling and relatedness-satisfying behaviors, have been shown to significantly impact students' academic performance and mental health. This encompasses, but is not limited to, academic achievement and bullying behavior. Several studies have shown that teachers' conditional negative regard undermines students' autonomous motivation and the unconditionality of teachers' regard is positively related to students' intrinsic motivation, which constitutes a component of autonomous motivation. However, first, most of these studies are cross-sectional, and few have explored longitudinal relations and mechanisms. Second, these related studies are separate, failing to compare the difference between these three kinds of regard in the same sample. Third, while previous studies have characterized teacher-student interactions as one-way and static, the actual teacher-student interactions are bi-directional and dynamic processes, which have not been adequately reflected in the existing research. It remains unclear whether these three types of teachers' regard are influenced by their students' traits and behaviors (e.g., autonomous motivation).
The objective of the study was to elucidate the interrelationship and longitudinal predictive effects between teachers' regard, pupils' autonomy frustration, and autonomous motivation. A total of 358 Chinese pupils completed measures of perceived teachers' conditional negative regard, conditional positive regard, and unconditional regard, students' autonomy frustration, and students' autonomous motivation at baseline (T1), followed by assessments at 3-month (T2) and 6-month (T3) intervals from each preceding time point. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS26.0 and Mplus8.3. Correlation analyses showed that teachers' conditional negative regard was positively correlated with autonomy frustration but negatively correlated with autonomous motivation; Teachers' conditional positive regard was positively correlated with autonomy frustration and autonomous motivation at certain timepoints; Teachers' unconditional regard was positively correlated with autonomous motivation but negatively correlated with autonomy frustration. The cross-lagged panel model showed that: (1) All autoregressive paths were significant. (2) T1/T2 teachers' conditional negative regard significantly and negatively predict T2/T3 autonomous motivation (β= -.09~-.10, p <.05), while T1/T2 teachers' unconditional regard significantly and positively predict T2/T3 autonomous motivation (β=.08~.09, p <.05), but the longitudinal predictive effect of teachers' conditional positive regard was not significant. (3) T1/T2 autonomous motivation significantly and positively predict teachers' unconditional regard (β=.14~.15, p<.05), but can't predict teachers' conditional negative regard and teachers' conditional positive regard. This means there is a reciprocal effect between teachers' unconditional regard and students' autonomous motivation, with the cross-lagged effect from students' autonomous motivation to teachers' unconditional regard being stronger. (4) The results indicate that T1 teachers' conditional negative regard reduces T3 students' autonomous motivation by increasing T2 autonomy frustration, while T1 teachers' unconditional regard alleviates the decline of T3 students' autonomous motivation by reducing T2 autonomy frustration. Before adding autonomy frustration as the mediator, the longitudinal predictive effects from T1 teachers' conditional negative regard and unconditional regard to T3 students' autonomous motivation are not significant. That is, T2 autonomy frustration fully mediated the effects of T1 teachers' conditional negative regard on T3 autonomous motivation (indirect effect = -.02, 95%CI = [-.03, -.004]), and similarly mediated the effects of T1 teachers' unconditional regard on T3 autonomous motivation (indirect effect =.02, 95%CI = [.002,.04]). (5) The paths from T1 autonomous motivation to T3 teachers' conditional negative regard (indirect effect = -.01, 95%CI = [-.02,.002]) and T3 teachers' unconditional regard are marginally significant (indirect effect =.01, 95%CI = [-.004,.02]).
The main theoretical contributions of this study are as follows. First, the study advances the understanding of the longitudinal mechanisms between teachers' regard and autonomous motivation. Second, the results provide empirical research evidence to support the model proposed by Kanat-Maymon et al. (
In recent years, the incidence of children's mental health problems has been on the rise, with an emerging trend of affecting younger ages. In light of this, mental health education has been elevated to a strategic priority at the national level. Behavioral problems, as key indicators for assessing children's mental health, have consistently received more attention from researchers and educators. Two types of behavioral problems are prevalent among children and adolescents: internalizing and externalizing problems. Although internalizing and externalizing problems are mutually independent and manifest with different symptoms, they are closely related and often co-develop in childhood and adolescence. Researchers have proposed that the dynamic reciprocal relations between internalizing and externalizing problems may lead to the co-development between the two constructs over time. For instance, the failure model holds that externalizing problem may result in peer rejection and a lack of social support, which may increase failure experiences in social interactions with important others, eventually leading to an increased risk for internalizing symptoms. In contrast, the acting out model states that children who show internalizing problems may “acted out” their negative feelings and emotions by displaying externalizing behaviors. Most relevant studies have tested the reciprocal relations between internalizing and externalizing problems. However, research failed to reach a consensus regarding the direction of the reciprocal effects between internalizing and externalizing problems. One possible reason for the inconsistent findings may be that studies examining these relations utilized the cross-lagged panel model (CLPM). CLPM has been criticized for failing to separate between-person variation from within-person variation. Between-person variation reflects that on average, whether children who perform high levels of externalizing problems also perform more symptoms of internalizing problems, and vice versa. In contrarst, within-person variation reflects whether the changes from one’s own mean level of externalizing problems during the one assessment period would predict the changes from one’s own mean level of internalizing problems during the next assessment period, and vice versa. In this regard, random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) splits the variance of each variable into stable between-person variation and within-person variation. It is thus necessary to use RI-CLPM to provide a more appropriate test of the existing theories and studies. In addition, a comparison of the results from the CLPM and the RI-CLPM helps to reveal more refined reciprocal relations between internalizing and externalizing problems. Additionally, considering that the late elementary school period is an important transitional phase in children's development, the physiological, social, and psychological changes that children face during this time may exacerbate their internalizing and externalizing problems. However, most existing studies on behavioral problems have mainly focused on adolescent sample, with limited studies exploring these reciprocal relations beyond the mid-to-late childhood.
Using a longitudinal sample consists of 511 elementary school students (T1: Mage = 9.8 ±.78, 48.2% boys) in Grades 3 to 4 from Shandong Province, and conducting a four-wave longitudinal design (six-month apart), the current study aimed to reveal the dynamic reciprocal relations between internalizing and externalizing problems by comparing the CLPM and RI-CLPM. The CLPM results indicated that internalizing problems significantly predicted externalizing problems at the subsequent time point. However, the predictive effect of externalizing problems on internalizing problems was not significant. The RI-CLPM results revealed a significant correlation between the random intercepts of internalizing and externalizing problems. At the within-person level, changes in internalizing problems positively predicted subsequent changes in externalizing problems across four time points, whereas the reverse is not valid.
The findings emphasize the importance of early identification and intervention for internalizing problems in children’s mental health work. Considering the relatively stable predictive relationship between internalizing and externalizing problems, the manifestation of externalizing behaviors in children may signify that underlying internalizing symptoms have persisted for an extended period. Therefore, recognizing externalizing behaviors could serve as a pivotal opportunity to detect concealed internalizing problems in children, thereby aiding in the mitigation or prevention of such problems.
Envy is a universally prevalent and deeply ingrained human emotion, often perceived with negative connotations. Interestingly, envy exhibits a dual nature, encompassing both benign envy and malicious envy. Benign envy serves as a constructive impetus, motivating individuals to strive harder towards attaining greater accomplishments. Conversely, malicious envy obstructs collaboration, fosters animosity, and undermines the social standing of others. Previous research has indicated that the origins of envy, whether it manifests as benign or malicious, can be traced back to early adverse environments, such as instances of child maltreatment. However, the academic community has long overlooked a prevalent and significant early adverse environmental factor: the impact of the absence of early fatherly love on the development of envy. Hence, what is the association between father-love absence and envy, specifically benign/malicious envy? The exploration of this issue holds both theoretical and practical significance, warranting further investigation. Based on this, the present study aims to investigate the association between father-love absence, a unique form of educational absence, and benign/malicious envy, as well as its underlying mechanism from the perspective of ambiguous loss theory. Furthermore, both benign and malicious envy exist at both the trait and state levels. How can we systematically investigate the relationship between father-love absence and adolescents’ traits and the status of benign/malicious envy, as well as the mediating role of cognitive reappraisal in this association?
The present study utilizes longitudinal tracking (Study 1) and weekly diary methods (Study 2) to examine the impact of father-love absence, a unique form of family education absence, on adolescents’ benign/malicious envy at both trait and state levels, as well as its underlying mechanism. In Study 1, a cluster sampling method was adopted to recruit participants from a middle school in Hunan Province. Two waves of data collection were conducted with a six-month interval between them. The initial wave included 1,468 students, while the second wave yielded 1,252 participants after attrition. The results indicate that the father-love absence has both immediate and delayed positive predictive effects on the trait of malicious envy in adolescents, while it exhibits immediate and delayed negative predictive effects on the trait of benign envy. As an adaptive emotion regulation strategy, cognitive reappraisal plays both an immediate and a delayed mediating role between father-love absence and benign/malicious envy. In Study 2, a cluster sampling method was employed to recruit 452 students from a middle school in Hunan Province as research participants. A continuous seven-week diary method was conducted with them every week to investigate their cognitive reappraisal and benign/malicious envy experienced in their daily lives. The results indicate that the father-love absence has a positive predictive effect on adolescents’ weekly levels of malicious envy, and a negative predictive effect on their weekly levels of benign envy. Weekly levels of cognitive reappraisal play a mediating role between the father-love absence and weekly levels of benign or malicious envy.
The current research reveals the intricate correlation between early father-love absence in the family system and adolescents’ traits and status regarding benign or malicious envy, thereby enriching our understanding of factors that influence adolescent envy. It offers comprehensive insights into family function intervention and underscores the pivotal role of fathers in fostering their children’s socio-emotional development. The present study also uncovered the dynamic mediating mechanism of cognitive reappraisal, a crucial strategy for regulating emotions, in the relationship between father-love absence and both benign envy and malicious envy. This finding further provides valuable insights into mitigating adolescent envy through emotional regulation strategies. In essence, these findings contribute to our understanding of how the absence of early fatherly love in adverse environments impacts feelings of envy. Therefore, this study provides a theoretical framework for the cultivation and development of children’s social emotions from the perspective of paternal affection.
The pervasive integration of digital technologies in contemporary workplaces has precipitated a significant dissolution of traditional boundaries between the professional and domestic spheres, giving rise to a boundaryless work environment. This shift, characterized by frequent cross-boundary task switching, profoundly impacts employee job satisfaction, a core predictor of key organizational outcomes such as innovation and retention. While the antecedents of job satisfaction have long been a central theme in organizational research, the unique context of blurred work-nonwork boundaries necessitates a more nuanced understanding. Extant literature, largely dominated by variable-centered paradigms, has identified key individual traits, such as work-family segmentation preferences and conscientiousness, as well as job characteristics, such as leaders’ after-hours electronic communication expectations (AECE) and work autonomy, as significant factors. However, these approaches often assume homogeneity within samples and focus on linear relationships, thereby systematically neglecting the heterogeneous and configurational effects arising from the complex interplay of these factors. This limitation can lead to “one-size-fits-all” management interventions that are imprecise and ineffective. In response to calls for a more holistic perspective, this study adopts a person-centered methodology to capture this unobserved heterogeneity, identifying naturally occurring profiles based on how these traits and characteristics combine within individuals.
This investigation is grounded in an integrated theoretical framework that combines the boundary theory and the self-determination theory (SDT). The boundary theory provides the foundational lens for selecting the key antecedents, as it specifically addresses how individuals manage the boundaries between work and nonwork domains, emphasizing the interactive roles of individual traits (e.g., preferences and personality) and job characteristics (e.g., supports and demands). Building on this, the SDT is introduced to explain the underlying psychological mechanism through which these antecedent combinations influence job satisfaction. The SDT posits that well-being is a function of the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. We argue that the specific configuration of an employee’s traits and job characteristics creates a unique psychosocial environment that either supports or thwarts the satisfaction of these needs, leading to differential levels of job satisfaction.
This study had three primary objectives: (1) To identify distinct, naturally occurring latent profiles based on the combination of employees’ work-family segmentation preference, conscientiousness, perceived leader AECE, and work autonomy. (2) To examine the differential relationships between these identified latent profiles and employee job satisfaction. (3) To investigate the mediating role of the three basic psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) in explaining the relationship between profile membership and job satisfaction.
A three-wave longitudinal survey was conducted at a large, highly digitized state-owned enterprise in Guangdong, China. The final matched sample consisted of 346 employees. At Time 1 (T1), participants reported on the four individual trait and job characteristic variables, along with demographics. At Time 2 (one month later), they assessed their basic psychological needs satisfaction. At Time 3 (two months after T1), they reported their job satisfaction.
A latent profile analysis of the T1 data revealed four distinct and interpretable employee profiles. The Balanced group (56.7%) represented the largest segment, characterized by moderate levels on all four indicators, suggesting a state of equilibrium. The Active group (14.2%) was typified by high levels of both conscientiousness and work autonomy, with moderate levels on the other indicators. In stark contrast, the Conflicting group (5.9%) exhibited a detrimental combination: a high preference for work-family segmentation and high perceived leader AECE, coupled with low work autonomy. Finally, the Passive group (23.1%) was marked by low levels of conscientiousness, segmentation preference, and leader AECE, alongside moderate work autonomy. Subsequent analysis confirmed a significant relationship between profile membership and job satisfaction. The Active group reported the highest job satisfaction, followed in descending order by the Balanced, Passive, and Conflicting groups, with the last group reporting the lowest satisfaction by a significant margin.
Using the Balanced group as the reference, mediation analyses revealed distinct psychological pathways underlying these differences. The Active group’s higher job satisfaction was significantly mediated by greater competence need satisfaction. In contrast, the Conflicting group’s substantially lower job satisfaction was mediated by lower autonomy need satisfaction. Finally, the Passive group’s lower job satisfaction was explained by lower satisfaction of both competence and relatedness needs.
These findings offer significant theoretical contributions and practical implications. Theoretically, this study challenges the traditional variable-centered paradigm by demonstrating that employees’ experiences in the digital age are better understood through holistic, heterogeneous profiles rather than isolated variables. It enriches the boundary theory by empirically illustrating how traits and characteristics configure in reality and extends the SDT by revealing the specific, differentiated need-satisfaction pathways associated with these real-world configurations. Practically, the identified profiles serve as a diagnostic tool for managers. Interventions can be targeted. For Conflicting employees, efforts should focus on restoring autonomy. For Passive employees, strategies should aim to bolster competence and relatedness. By moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach, organizations can design more precise, evidence-based interventions to enhance employee job satisfaction in an era of increasingly blurred boundaries.
Depression and disability are two major health problems faced by older adults in China. Some studies have found that depression in older adults is associated with cognitive impairment and disability, and can significantly reduce their quality of life and increase suicidal tendencies and risk of death. However, there are some limitations in exploring the relationship between depression and activity of daily living (ADL) in older adults. First, there is a lack of vertical exploration of the relationship between depression and ADL. As the research data is cross-sectional, it is impossible to reveal the dynamic relationship between depression and ADL for their development in older adults. Second, there are few longitudinal studies exploring the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and depression in older adults. Third, there is less attention paid to the differences between urban older adults and rural older adults, as well as the interaction between gender and urban/rural. Fourth, there has been no research on the relationship between the depression and ADL for multiple-group parallel process latent growth model (MGPP-LGM), which appears insufficient.
In view of the lack of longitudinal relationship between the depression and ADL in urban-rural older adults in China, this study aimed to examine the urban-rural differences in the longitudinal relationship between the depression and ADL using the MGPP-LGM, which would help to specifically interfere with ADL and depression in older adults. Three-wave longitudinal data over 4 years (2011, 2013, 2015) were derived from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). This study had 5,757 participants, including 4,602 rural and 1,155 urban older adults aged 60 years old and above. The MGPP-LGM was used to gauge urban-rural differences in the longitudinal relationship between depression and ADL in older adults and to examine the effect of covariates. We also explored the effects of time-invariant (e.g., age, nationality, gender, and educational level) and time-varying covariates (e.g., body mass index and social activity participation) on the relationship between the depression and ADL.
The results are as follows. First, the ADL of older adults in urban and rural areas showed a significant linear decline over time. For older adults in urban and rural areas, their depression level showed a trend of "first decreasing and then increasing", and only rural older adults show a significant change trend, but the urban older adults had no significant change in depression. Secondly, under the condition of controlling covariates, there was a significant difference between the initial ADL and depression of urban-rural older adults. There was a significant positive correlation between the depression and ADL for urban-rural older adults. For older adults with impaired initial ADL, the initial depression level of rural older adults was higher than that of urban older adults, and the psychological health of rural older adults was more worthy of attention. Third, male, younger, and more educated rural older adults had better initial ADL, but there were no significant differences in the initial ADL of urban older adults in terms of gender, age, and education level. Male and older adults with relatively higher levels of education in urban and rural areas had lower initial levels of depression, but there was inconsistency in the "education level" that affects depression in older adults between urban area and rural area. Finally, social activity participation and BMI had a dynamic impact on the ADL and depression of older adults in urban and rural areas, with a greater impact on rural older adults than urban older adults. Participating in social activities can significantly reduce the level of depression in older adults. Maintaining suitable BMI in geriatric period can benefit their physical and mental health. In view of the backward economic development in rural areas in China, the intervention of the health status of rural older adults in the future needs particular attention.
Organizations always strive to prioritize enhancing the calling of scientific researchers, even if it sometimes require researchers to sacrifice their own health. For researchers who view their profession as a calling, the process of recovering from health sacrifices can be extremely challenging. Pursuing career goals may lead those with a strong calling to overlook mental and physical health issues, such as excessive anxiety and poor sleep quality. However, previous research on calling has mainly focused on work-related outcomes (e.g., performance), neglecting its potential impact on researchers’ mental and physical health. Therefore, exploring the impact of the calling on researchers’ sleep quality and its intervention mechanisms is of significant theoretical and practical value.
This study aimed to investigate the potential causes of poor sleep quality among researchers with a strong calling and identify ways to mitigate the negative effects of this phenomenon. To achieve this objective, the study established a multi-level moderated mediation model based on the basic psychological needs theory (BPNT) and the work as calling theory (WCT). The model was designed to clarify the mediating role of fear of missing out (FOMO) and the moderating roles of individual mindfulness and leader mindfulness. The study employed a three-wave questionnaire survey and ultimately collected 400 valid questionnaires from 88 research teams. It used structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses, which proposed that the calling among researchers would impair their sleep quality by triggering FOMO. Additionally, the study examined whether the relation between calling and FOMO would differ based on the levels of leader and individual mindfulness levels.
The results of this study provide valuable insights into the relations among calling, mindfulness, FOMO, and sleep quality. Specifically, the results indicate that: (1) The career calling of scientific researchers was significantly and positively correlated with FOMO; FOMO was significantly and negatively correlated with sleep quality; and FOMO mediated the relation between the calling and sleep quality. (2) Leader mindfulness—identified as a critical factor—moderated the relation between the calling and FOMO, as well as the indirect relation between the calling and sleep quality. In contrast, individual mindfulness played an insignificant role in these relationships. These findings suggest that leader mindfulness is an important contextual factor for reducing the negative impact of the calling.
This study makes several important theoretical contributions. First, it deepens our understanding of researchers’ calling by shifting the focus of the research from the positive effects of the calling to its negative impacts, specifically its influence on researchers’ sleep quality. Second, it expands our understanding of FOMO by introducing it as a novel theoretical mechanism to explain the relation between the calling and researchers’ sleep quality. Third, it demonstrates the distinct roles of leader mindfulness and individual mindfulness in the mechanism through which the calling affects FOMO, thereby providing a more comprehensive theoretical explanation of the complex process by which the calling impacts researchers’ sleep quality.
These conclusions also offer practical implications for the management of researchers in organizations. First, while cultivating the calling among researchers, organizations should consider their research needs and mental states. Such efforts aim to prevent the calling from becoming a detrimental factor that impairs researchers’ sleep quality and to guide its positive role. Second, organizations should regularly provide professional psychological counseling services. Such services can help researchers acquire effective coping skills for FOMO, thereby interrupting the negative pathway of FOMO and improving researchers’ sleep quality and work performance. Third, organizations should strengthen mindfulness training for leaders, as this can help researchers balance work and life through mindfulness-based management strategies.
In a rapidly changing external environment, individuals can still maintain the past, present, and future self-coherent state, which we called self-continuity (SC). Based on the time orientation, SC can be divided into past self-continuity (PSC), future self-continuity (FSC), and global self-continuity (GSC). Existing evidence shows that both PSC and FSC can actively predict various psychological and behavioral performance. However, enhancing SC does not always benefit economic behavior. The higher the future self-continuity, the more inclined people are to pursue future benefits and avoid future risks. The higher the past self-continuity, the more people prefer consumption goods related to the past self, but also the more susceptible to the sunk cost effect. Specific psychological processes need to be analyzed for the above differences in the influences of FSC and PSC on economic behaviors. However, most existing studies only focus on the predictive effects of either FSC or PSC on specific economic behaviors, and the discussion on the influencing mechanism is limited, so it cannot be fully explained. The main purpose of this paper is to construct an integrated theoretical model to comprehensively explain how SC influences different types of economic behavior.
(1) The life cycle hypothesis implicitly assumes FSC: to fully incorporate future expectations into decision making, the present self and future self must be completely continuous. This level of continuity occurs when people can most clearly perceive their future situation and fully integrate expected information into the current decision-making process, thereby maximizing the overall utility of resources throughout the life cycle. According to the life cycle hypothesis, when the present self is completely continuous with the future self, people’s economic behavior is likely to become completely rational. (2) A joint account model was proposed based on the behavioral life cycle hypothesis to explain how FSC influences spending adjustment willingness. Within the framework of the behavioral life cycle hypothesis, due to changes in FSC, the present and future income accounts can merge or separate, this affects the adjustment of the willingness to adjust spending. However, because the model focuses on the flow of money income accounts with different time labels, and consumer goods themselves do not generate money income, it cannot explain the effect of FSC on real goods preference. (3) Based on the double-entry mental accounting theory, researchers analyzed how PSC reduction alleviates the sunk cost effect via “psychological decoupling”. That is, the reduction of PSC will lead to the psychological decoupling of payment and consumption in the same “transaction” account. The happiness of consumption is not diluted by past payments, thus reducing the sunk cost effect. However, some manifestations of the effect of PSC on economic behavior do not involve such transactions. For example, the increase in PSC encourages people to prefer goods associated with their past selves, but this consumption preference does not occur because the transaction has not been completed, because the consumer has not invested in these consumer goods in the past. In this way, the psychological decoupling model seems to be only applicable to the analysis of economic behaviors that have already incurred transaction costs.
Based on a comparative analysis of existing hypotheses and models and relevant research evidence, we constructed a joint benefits account model (JBAM) to provide a more appropriate theoretical framework for future research. In the income sharing account model, SC will change horizontally due to individual attributes or situational factors. An increase in SC will promote a shift from separation to consolidation of present and future benefits accounts (affected by FSC), or present and past income accounts (affected by PSC). When benefits accounts are separated, individual economic behavior primarily serves the present and focuses on the immediate benefits of the current account. Accordingly, when the benefits accounts are merged, individuals pursue the comprehensive benefits of the current and past accounts. The combination or separation of benefits accounts directly affects individual economic behavior.
The construction of the JBAM may provide a new perspective on the mechanisms by which SC influences psychological and behavioral phenomena. First, few studies put FSC and PSC under the same framework to explain the psychological mechanism of such influence. This paper provides a referable theoretical model for researchers to continue to explore the comprehensive impact of different time orientations of SC on other psychological or behavioral phenomena. Second, the proposed model may be beneficial to the intervention study of sunk cost effect. The inclusion of SC in the reasoning of the mechanism of sunk cost effect is not the first in the revenue-sharing account model, but to our knowledge, no other studies have explained the sunk cost effect from the perspective of psychological account merger and separation. Given that many researchers have developed SC manipulation and promotion schemes, these schemes, combined with our path analysis on the sunk cost effect of SC, may provide references for corresponding intervention studies. To further enrich and develop the model, more targeted empirical studies need to be designed in the future to test and develop the overall model.
An increasing number of enterprises are adding more functions to their products to compensate for limitations in product design and development. Marketers also often promote products with more functions to consumers as a way to stimulate their purchase intentions. Although multifunctional products are becoming increasingly prevalent in the market, academic research on consumer preferences for such products has largely focused on psychological factors. For example, research has revealed that consumers with impression management motivation, high elaboration level, and maximizers (who strive to make the best choice) prefer multifunctional products. However, no existing studies have explored the impact of visual cues at the consumer level (such as dress style) on the preference for multifunctional products. In offline shopping scenarios, marketers often decide whether to recommend multifunctional products to them based on their dress style, and in daily life, consumers make various consumption decisions while dressed in different styles (e.g., formal vs. informal) every day. Yet, it remains unclear which dress style of consumers would prefer multifunctional products and what the underlying mechanism is. This study proposes that consumers in formal dress (vs. informal dress) would prefer multifunctional rather than single-functional products, with efficiency goals as the mediator, and implicit personality moderates the effect of dress style on the preference for multifunctional products through efficiency goals.
This paper presents four studies that explore how consumers’ dress style (formal vs. casual) influences their preferences for multifunctional products. Study 1 is an offline laboratory experiment with a single-factor between-subjects design of dress style (formal vs. informal), manipulating the dress style of participants to examine the impact of consumers' dress style on their preference for multifunctional cameras/lamps. Study 2 adds a control group and uses a single-factor between-subjects design of dress style (formal vs. informal vs. control group) to replicate the main effect through real advertisements of products (health preservation kettles) and rule out alternative explanations such as self-efficacy and explanatory level. Study 3 investigates the underlying mechanism by which consumers' dress style affects their preference for multifunctional products, specifically efficiency goals. Study 4 employs a 2 (dress style: formal vs. informal) × 2 (implicit personality: incremental theory vs. entity theory) between-subjects design to examine how consumers' implicit personality moderates the effect of dress style on the preference for multifunctional products via efficiency goals.
This article presents consistent evidence from four studies. When consumers dress formally (vs. informally), their preference for multifunctional products increases. This relationship is mediated by efficiency goals and moderated by consumers' implicit personality. The effect is stronger for incrementalists and disappears for entity theorists. The mediating role of efficiency goals in this relationship is further confirmed, as incrementalists activate stronger efficiency goals when dressed formally (vs. informally), leading to a greater preference for multifunctional products. This effect does not occur in entity theorists. Additionally, a supplementary study ruled out the possibility that the observed influence of dress style on multifunctional product preferences is due to the mediating effects of expected income and self-monitoring.
This study has significant theoretical and practical implications. First, previous research has shown that consumers' dress styles can influence their overall purchase intentions and food choices. This study reveals a novel effect of dress style on preference for multifunctional products, thereby advancing our understanding of how dress style shapes consumer decision-making. Second, this study uncovers the importance of dress style in the marketing of multifunctional products, introducing a novel antecedent variable to the literature on consumers' preferences for multifunctional products and broadening the research perspective within this domain. Third, at the mediating level, previous studies have found that compared to informal dress, formal dress activates consumers' clothing-image consistency associations. Building on this, the current study reveals that consumers' formal dress (vs. informal dress) activates efficiency goals, uncovering a new psychological mechanism through which dress styles influence consumer decision-making. Finally, marketers can use consumers' dress styles to make recommendations for multifunctional products.
In complex social contexts, pro-environmental behavior (PEB) often emerges within social dilemmas where long-term environmental interests conflict not only with short-term personal gains but also with the cooperative interests of social groups. These dilemmas highlight a fundamental challenge: individuals may prioritize immediate personal or collective benefits over ecological sustainability. Social norms, as powerful yet often implicit regulatory forces, have been shown to promote PEB significantly. However, it is unclear whether social norms exert the same influence within social dilemmas, where environmental interests directly compete with both self-interest and group cooperation. Investigating this issue is crucial for advancing theoretical understanding and developing practical strategies that foster sustainable behavior.
According to normative focus theory, social norms are classified into descriptive social norms, which communicate “what others are doing,” and injunctive social norms, which indicate “societal approval or disapproval.” Previous research suggests that these two types of norms exert distinct effects on PEB, with descriptive social norms frequently demonstrating greater effectiveness than injunctive social norms in encouraging such actions. However, how these norms operate within social dilemmas, where PEB is influenced by competing individual, group, and collective environmental interests, remains unknown. To address this question, the present study employs the Greater Good Game, a paradigm specifically designed to examine PEB in social dilemmas. By integrating event-related potentials (ERP) techniques, this research further explores the neural mechanisms underlying the influence of different types and intensities of social norms on pro-environmental decision-making in social dilemmas. Through this approach, the study aims to deepen our understanding of how social norms shape PEB in complex social contexts.
The results of this study indicate that individuals exposed to prominent descriptive social norms exhibit an increase in PEB within social dilemmas. This implies that when individuals perceive a robust norm of PEB among their peers, they are more likely to conform and engage in similar actions. These findings highlight the significant role of descriptive social norms in promoting PEB through social influence, demonstrating how perceived group conduct influences individual environmental decisions. At the neural level, ERP analysis offers more profound insights into the distinct effects of injunctive social norms on cognitive processing. The results show that under injunctive social norm conditions, individuals making pro-environmental choices exhibit a more negative N1 amplitude and an enhanced P2 amplitude. The increased negativity of the N1 amplitude indicates that injunctive social norms attract greater attention during the early stages of perceptual processing. Meanwhile, the larger P2 amplitude signifies enhanced cognitive resource allocation during the initial phases of decision evaluation. Furthermore, individuals subjected to high injunctive social norms exhibit a more negative N400 amplitude when making pro-environmental choices, a component typically linked to semantic integration difficulties and cognitive conflict. This pattern implies that injunctive social norms may induce greater cognitive conflict, thereby prompting individuals to engage in more reflective processing as they consider the broader social implications of their actions.
The findings suggest that the high descriptive social norms promote PEB by reinforcing group behavioral consistency, encouraging individuals to align their actions with perceived collective norms. In contrast, injunctive social norms influence decision-making by enhancing attentional engagement and eliciting cognitive conflict, prompting more deliberate processing of environmental choices. These results offer valuable insights into the mechanisms by which social norms influence PEB within social dilemmas, particularly in shaping individuals’ ecological decision-making processes. By uncovering distinct cognitive and neural pathways associated with descriptive and injunctive social norms, this study deepens our understanding of how social influence operates in environmental contexts. Furthermore, these findings provide a theoretical foundation for designing policies that effectively leverage social norms to encourage sustainable behaviors, offering practical implications for environmental policy and intervention strategies aimed at addressing urgent ecological challenges.
Collective effervescence originally originated from collective religious rituals. Durkheim coined the term to describe the emotional effects generated by collective rituals. Collective effervescence is now regarded as a "solidarity adhesive" commonly found in secular gatherings, and it is a cross-cultural social phenomenon. From the perspective of historical changes, religious collective rituals were mainly prevalent in traditional societies, while secular gatherings are mainly popular in the current modern society. Therefore, collective effervescence worldwide has also undergone a transformation from religious rituals to secular gatherings: collective effervescence in secular gatherings is more common, while that in religious rituals is gradually declining. Exploring the theoretical mechanisms of collective effervescence and its psychosocial effects is not only conducive to understanding the development and progress of human civilization, but also an important topic for the innovative transformation of traditional culture to maintain individual mental health. This article first differentiates collective effervescence from the perspectives of sociology and psychology. Then, combining with relevant theories, it focuses on analyzing the psychosocial effects of collective effervescence from a psychological perspective and its explanatory mechanisms. Finally, it expounds on the future research directions.
From a psychological perspective, collective effervescence in secular gatherings is different from that in religious collective rituals. To some extent, the connotation, generating conditions, and research methods of collective effervescence in secular gatherings have changed. From the early collective rituals to the current secular gatherings, the connotation of collective effervescence has undergone two changes in meaning. The first is the process of desacralization (i.e., secularization), and the second is the process of deritualization. From the perspectives of cognition, emotion, and behavior, shared attention, shared emotions, and coordinated actions are the basis for activating collective effervescence. Early scholars explored collective effervescence using more traditional sociological research methods, while current psychological research mostly uses time-series designs to explore the persistent impact of the positive effects of collective effervescence over time.
A large number of current psychological verification studies have shown that collective effervescence can trigger a series of psychosocial effects. For example, collective effervescence can enhance collective identity, social cohesion, positive emotions, and well-being. Based on Durkheim's theory of collective effervescence, researchers have developed new theories to explain and study the psychosocial effects of collective effervescence. Collective effervescence can play a role in protecting the mental health of individuals and groups in aspects, such as enhancing cohesion and promoting mental well-being.
In addition, the psychosocial effects of collective effervescence are not limited to short-term impacts, and it has a cross-temporal persistence. Even after the effect of inducing collective effervescence on participants in an experimental situation ends, they still benefit from the collective effervescence effect. The positive impact of collective effervescence can last for at least 1 to 4 weeks, and in some cases, it can last up to 10 weeks or even 8 months. The persistence of the collective effervescence effect is the key to maintaining positive psychosocial effects.
Future research needs to explore the negative impacts of collective effervescence. While collective effervescence is an essential bond for maintaining morality and order, it can also trigger large-scale group incidents. Given the complexity of collective effervescence, in future research, scholars can pay more attention to its negative impacts. In addition, online collective effervescence may have a dual impact. We need to give full play to its cohesive function while preventing the possible chaos in the order of the online society. The form of participation in collective effervescence has changed from offline to online. What are the similarities and differences in the nature and impacts between these two forms? Future research needs to further reveal the positive and negative impacts of online collective effervescence and its mechanisms from a social psychological perspective, and compare the differences between offline and online collective effervescence. Future research also needs to further examine the explanatory mechanisms underlying the persistent impact of the collective effervescence effect. The psychosocial effects of collective effervescence may have a persistent impact through the mechanism of collective memory in the temporal dimension.
In the era of rapid technological development, organizations have become increasingly flat, and a purely leadership-centric management model struggles to meet the evolving demands of enterprises in the digital age. The role of followers in organizations has gradually expanded. Followership emerges from the interaction between the followers, leaders, and organizations, which has become a hot topic in the field of organizational management. Especially after 2019, followership literature accounts for 56.86% of the reviewed literature, representing a new development trend in followership research. To further integrate the research findings in this field and clarify its theoretical mechanisms, integrating qualitative and quantitative analysis methods to discuss followership from four aspects: Its concepts and measurements, formation mechanisms, outcomes, and future prospects. Details are as follows:
First, we searched the literature from 2006 to 2025, using both domestic (CNKI, Wanfang, VIP) and international databases (Web of Science Core Collection, EBSCO/Host). Using the PRISMA literature retrieval process, 53 English articles and 49 Chinese articles were selected for analysis. A publication volume graph and a knowledge co-occurrence map of keywords both domestically and internationally were created to illustrate the development stages and research hotspots of followership, determining the analytical framework.
Second, we explored five perspectives to discuss the conceptual connotations of followership, which were trait, ability, behavior, relationship, and process. The dimensions and measurements of followership were discussed from the perspectives of followers, leaders, and situations. As a result, the numerous connotations and measurement methods for followership resulted in the generalization of core concepts and potential inaccuracies in measurement. It was pointed out that future research should further clarify connotations, dimensions, and measurements in the context of digital scenarios.
Third, the perspectives of social construction, social exchange, social identity, and resource base collectively highlight the complexity and multi-faceted nature of followership formation. While prior studies predominantly examined antecedents at a single level, followership emergence is inherently multi-level, driven by the interplay of individual, relational, and contextual factors. There is a need to further integrate factors from multiple levels and analyze the triggering mechanisms of followership from the perspective of factor combinations. Due to the lack of a systematic theoretical perspective on the consequences of followership, its effects were analyzed from the levels of individual employee, leader, and team. It was found that existing research mostly focused on the positive effects of followership on individuals, leaders, and teams, while followership may lead to negative behaviors, shape negative leadership styles, and reduce organizational innovation capabilities. A more objective view of the consequences of followership is needed. The boundary mechanisms that affect the stimulation and function of followership were analyzed from the levels of individual employees and organizational situations. It was found that existing studies focus only on the different degrees of followership performance in traditional scenarios. The digital scenario as an organizational scenario has not received much attention. Further attention is needed to the enhancement and weakening of the degree of followership triggering and outcome effects due to factors such as individual digital cognition of employees in digital situations.
Finally, based on the above analysis, a systematic theoretical framework was constructed. The future research should further explore the manifestations and specific characteristics of followership in the digital era, developing a precise definition, connotations, and measurement scales. Analytical methods such as Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) configurations should be used to analyze the triggering mechanisms of followership from different factor combinations. Attention should be paid to the dark side of following behavior, combined with its positive effects, to enhance an objective understanding of its consequences. New organizational situations should be considered, breaking original assumptions, and analyzing the boundary conditions of related factors to enhance the triggering and outcome effects of followership in digital situations.
As the global population ages, the mental health of the elderly has emerged as a critical concern in recent years. Ageism, the third major form of social prejudice following gender and racial bias, has become one of the considerable barriers to active and healthy aging. Previous studies focused on reducing prejudice from an outsider's perspective. This study aims to investigate the ageism as perceived by older adults, with a focus on the connotation and structure of perceived ageism within the context of traditional Chinese filial piety culture.
This study employed a qualitative research paradigm using the Grounded Theory method. The sampling criteria were formulated based on the purpose-oriented and intensity sampling principles, and sampling was halted upon reaching theoretical saturation. The sample included nine participants (four males and five females) with a mean age of 70 ± 7.6 years. In-depth interviews were conducted with each participant on the topic of age-related differential treatment. All interviews were recorded, transcribed into text, and then coded and analyzed using NVivo11.0 Plus and Excel software. This program included data reduction and theme generation through initial coding, focused coding, axial coding, and theoretical coding. The four stages were cyclical and iterative. In this study, a total of 155,000 words of transcripts were obtained, with 325 initial codes extracted and 909 reference points identified. These were further condensed into 71 focused codes, resulting in five core categories. The findings can be summarized into two research topics: "perceived ageism" and "responses to perceived ageism". A grounded theoretical model of perceived ageism and its responses among the elderly was then established from the bottom up. The research shows that:
(1) Perceived Ageism: This refers to age-related stereotypes and the differential treatment of the elderly in Chinese culture. Perceived ageism includes two dimensions: hostile ageism and benevolent ageism. Hostile ageism mainly includes emotional neglect, a negation of the value, affective aversion, speaking insolently, behavioral rejection, and negative labeling. Benevolent ageism mainly includes restriction of movement, exceeding one's duties, meddling in others' affairs, and overprotection for the elderly. Together, these two aspects constitute the ambivalent ageism perceived by the elderly.
(2) Responses to Perceived Ageism: This includes three dimensions: behavioral responses, cognitive responses, and emotional reactions. Older adults react differently when they experience ageism. Initially, the elderly may have emotional reaction. Confronted with hostile ageism, older adults may feel sad and guilty, while benevolent ageism tends to evoke feelings of gratitude and appreciation, albeit with potential discomfort or concern. These affective states influence the cognitive processes and behavioral responses of older adults towards aging. For instance, in a positive emotional state, the elderly may reconstruct the concept of "aging" and "ageism", leading to proactive actions, such as resistance or self-empowerment. Conversely, negative emotions may lead to a focus on negative aging information, resulting in passive behaviors such as social withdrawal. These negative cognitions and behaviors can further deteriorate the emotional experiences of the elderly, leading to a decline in self-esteem and a sense of lost value. These three elements form a virtuous or vicious cycle in coping with ageism.
(3) Implications for Filial Piety and Active Aging: From the perspective of the connotation of benevolent ageism, keeping "calm" or "rational" in filial piety may help to unlock the potential of older adults and support long-term social development. In traditional Chinese culture, both the elderly and the young should be vigilant against benevolent ageism. Society should provide older adults with the opportunity to reach their full potential. The elderly must take control of their aging process and recognize that aging is not an immutable natural law. They can achieve active aging by fostering optimistic predictions and employing positive affirmations.
The findings of this study could provide theoretical support for promoting active aging in an aging society and offer insights for younger generations on how to practice filial piety in a way that supports the well-being of older adults.
Currently, most researchers rely on confirmatory structural equation modeling (SEM) for their analyses, which involves constructing relationships between variables or constraining specific parameters based on established theory and prior knowledge. While imposing constraints on parameters can produce a simple and interpretable model, excessive constraints may lead to model misspecification due to the inherent complexity of human behavior, potentially resulting in poor model fit and biased parameter estimates. The lack of theoretical support in new research domains also hinders the effectiveness of confirmatory SEM. Thus, researchers should consider adopting a data-driven approach to identify models that better fit the data. Data-driven exploratory approaches are associated with a high risk of Type I errors, making them prone to including redundant parameters in the model. Regularized SEM not only supports the exploratory process but also delivers a simpler model with a good fit.
In this study, we summarized the value and methods of regularized SEM, including frequentist and Bayesian regularized SEM. First, we reviewed frequentist approaches to regularized SEM. We introduced various regularization methods, including Ridge, Lasso, and Elastic Net. We also listed the penalty functions of commonly used regularization methods in Appendix 1. Additionally, we summarized the applications of frequentist regularized SEM in exploratory factor analysis, mediating model, MIMIC model, and multi-group model. We then discussed Bayesian regularization with shrinkage priors (see Appendix 2 for details), outlining their developments and applications in factor analysis, measurement invariance across time or groups, and variable selection. Second, we compared the advantages and disadvantages of frequentist and Bayesian SEM. Compared to frequentist regularization methods, Bayesian regularization offers several benefits in SEM: (1) It allows for effective standard error estimation and interval estimation of parameters; (2) It provides greater modeling flexibility by relaxing certain constraints imposed by frequentist methods; (3) It performs better in complex models, reducing non-convergence issues; (4) It allows the direct application of hyperpriors to tuning parameters, avoiding cumbersome cross-validation processes. Some researchers have argued that frequentist regularization methods were preferable for simple models, as these methods demonstrated superior performance and required fewer computational resources. It should be noted that the performance of some Bayesian regularization shrinkage priors in variable selection and parameter estimation can be influenced by the choice of priors, and there is currently no consensus on the specific settings of these priors. In contrast, the adjustment parameter λ in frequentist approaches can be selected based on objective criteria, thus avoiding the subjectivity of prior selection in Bayesian regularization. Finally, we discussed the advantages of applying regularized SEM: (1) regularized SEM enhances the reproducibility of psychological research by improving generalization; (2) it effectively balances exploratory and confirmatory methods, making it particularly valuable for scale development.; (3) it performs dimensionality reduction on high-dimensional data, simplifying variable sets and identifying statistically significant variables. Moreover, if researchers want to focus on both the presence of the effect and the magnitude of the effect during the exploratory phase, they can refer to the logic of relaxed Lasso in XMed. In the first stage, regularization can be employed for model selection, while in the second stage, traditional methods can be used to obtain parameter estimates. Regularized SEM also provides a novel approach to model selection by enabling model refinement and variable selection through parameter shrinkage, rather than relying solely on traditional evaluation metrics. However, it remains unclear whether parameter shrinkage methods are superior or inferior to traditional approaches. Notably, researchers should be aware of the bias-variance trade-off when using the regularization methods. We have also compiled a list of currently available software and packages for implementing regularized SEM in Appendix 3. We hope to advance the application of regularized SEM in psychological research.
Response time data is increasingly recognized for its potential to reveal the pace and conduct of examinees, offering valuable insights into educational and psychological assessments. Unusually rapid test completion may suggest irregular behavior, such as obtaining prior knowledge of certain test items ahead of his/her test. Current research indicates that the signal likelihood ratio (SLR) test outperforms other methods in maintaining type I error rates and enhancing statistical detection powers. This paper focuses on comparing the SLR with two novel test statistics designed to detect speed discrepancies.
Using response time data, we developed two Bayesian-inspired statistics to assess variations in test-taking speed. To gauge the efficacy of these statistics in detecting prior knowledge of test items, we initiate our analysis with a well-known data set from real-world scenarios. This data set has been previously scrutinized in studies aimed at identifying item preknowledge, allowing us to benchmark our findings against existing literature. Employing the signal likelihood ratio (SLR), the Bayesian factor (BF), and the posterior probabilistic (PP) approaches, we scrutinize each examinee’s response time data. Based on the flagged items marked in the dataset, the entire test is divided into two parts: the collection of normal items and the collection of flagged items. To more intuitively examine whether the “marked” abnormal examinees in the original dataset have differences in response speed during the test, the data of Form1 is analyzed as follows: (1) After excluding data with missing information and “marked” abnormal data, the log-normal time model is fitted to the data to obtain the item parameters for each item. (2) After excluding examinees with missing data, for the 41 “marked” examinees in the dataset, speed parameter estimation is conducted based on all 170 questions in the test, 106 non-leaked questions, and 64 leaked questions. The speed parameters obtained indicate that the examinees identified by the three methods all have speed differences. (3) After excluding examinees with missing data, all 1624 examinees in the test are analyzed using SLR, BF, and PP, and speed parameter estimation is conducted for the “marked” abnormal examinees.
The outcomes are then juxtaposed with the marked “aberrant examinees” in the original data set. Interestingly, all three methods exhibit a more “conservative” stance compared to the original dataset’s annotations. Specifically, BF, SLR, and PP identify 13, 11, and 9 examinees, respectively. Moreover, the detection sets from these methods are inclusive, with BF encompassing both SLR and PP detection, and SLR encompassing PP detection. This suggests that the PP method is the most stringent in flagging abnormal examinee behavior, while BF is comparatively more lenient.
Building on these findings, we designed a simulation study to further appraise the performance of the proposed methods. The results indicate that examinees with prior knowledge exhibit distinct response speeds on leaked versus normal items. The sensitivity of the three statistics—SLR, BF, and PP—varies, with BF being the most responsive to speed differences and PP the least. Targeted simulation experiments are conducted to assess the impact of varying degrees of speed differences due to item preknowledge, the prevalence of such preknowledge among examinees, and the proportion of known items within the total test under diverse conditions. A comprehensive comparison reveals that: (1) All three methods effectively control type I error rates; (2) A medium speed difference (U =.35 to.50) allows for high detection accuracy; (3) To accurately identify examinees with item preknowledge, they must have prior knowledge of at least 20% of the items; and (4) Given the study’s parameters are known, the prevalence of preknowledge in the population is expected to have a minimal impact on test outcomes. The newly developed statistics demonstrate robust performance in detecting response speed differences during the examination process.
Anxiety disorders, also known as anxiety neuroses, are characterized by recurrent episodes of anxiety. They are one of the most common mental disorders, with causes including neurobiological, environmental, and psychosocial factors, among others. Their prevalence has risen sharply in recent years as social pressures have increased. Anxiety disorders have an early onset, usually begin in childhood or adolescence and continue into adulthood. Chronic anxiety and the excessive experience of negative emotions can greatly impair a patient’s social functioning and quality of life, in addition to damaging the body's immunity and adaptability to life.
Oxytocin (oxytocin) is a neuropeptide that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Initially known for its peripheral physiological role in labor and breastfeeding, it has recently been emphasized because it is also released in the central nervous system and exerts neuromodulatory functions in various brain regions associated with facial emotion recognition, empathy, trust, parent-child interaction, attachment, stress, and cognition. The anxiolytic effects of oxytocin have been extensively studied, in which exogenous nasal spray administration reduces anxiety and depressive symptoms. Compared with anxiolytic drugs, oxytocin is expected to be an adjunctive drug in the treatment of anxiety disorders because of its low side effects and low likelihood of drug dependence when applied to the clinical management of patients with anxiety disorders. Oxytocin affects people's social behaviors and incrases the level of individual sedation by acting on the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenergic) axis, acting on the hypothalamus through the ventricular system and the circulation in the body. Oxytocin combines with the receptor to release adrenocorticotropic hormone, reduce social anxiety and avoidance behaviors by acting on the serotonin system and stimulating the release of serotonin, modulate fear responses, and alleviate anxiety symptoms in individuals with anxiety disorders by acting on the GABA system to inhibit central neurotransmission and reduce amygdala activation. In addition, oxytocin, as a potential adjunctive therapeutic agent, exhibits unique synergistic effects in the psychotherapy of anxiety disorders. Oxytocin is able to act as a synergist for psychotherapy by influencing parts of the therapeutic alliance, belief renewal, and empathy. When oxytocin is synergized with other medications, it has also been found that co-medication strategies show great potential in treating anxiety disorders.
Although the role of oxytocin has been confirmed by several studies, the current findings are not entirely consistent and the reasons behind the different results have not been deeply explored. In addition, the specific use of oxytocin in clinical applications is yet to be examined, and future research should focus on the following aspects. First, it is crucial to determine the optimal dosage of oxytocin and the window of time for onset of action in the clinical treatment of anxiety disorders. The dose and frequency of administration of oxytocin, a potential anxiolytic therapeutic agent, are important factors influencing efficacy. The efficacy of oxytocin treatment at different doses and frequencies in patients with anxiety disorders can be assessed by randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Second, the synergistic effects of oxytocin with other medications or psychotherapies should be thoroughly investigated to enrich the understanding of oxytocin's mechanism of action and to achieve more precise and effective clinical interventions. Third, the neurological basis and cognitive neural mechanism of oxytocin's effect on the core symptoms of anxiety disorders should be further explored, and neuroimaging and electrophysiological methods should be utilized to further reveal the exact pathways of oxytocin's action in the brain. Finally, studies on oxytocin's effects on different subtypes of anxiety disorders can be carried out to consider individual differences and develop personalized treatment strategies.
The rice theory advocates that southern China leans towards a collectivist culture. However, when explaining the cultural differences between northern and southern China, this viewpoint does not align with the universal understanding of "relationship between cultural differences and economic development" in the field of economics. Furthermore, it does not fit China’s situation, in which the south is wealthier and develops faster than the north. Self-construal is a psychological process completed based on cultural values. The analysis of the characteristics of self-construal and social expression under collectivist culture can help to summarize the cultural value orientations of the north and south, explore the reason why there are contradictions between the rice theory and the actual situation, and provide a new perspective of explaining the extant differences in cultural values between the north and south.
The self constructed under Chinese collectivist culture mainly exists in the form of interdependent self, with the core constituent element of relationship between a person and the people around. The interdependent self has flexible and elastic boundaries between oneself and others, which expressed as facial psychology in daily social intercourse. When in a mixed relation, as people are often more sensitive to the gains and losses of the face of both parties in the interaction, they are more likely to be trapped in 'relationship fetters', thus the development of market contracts and healthy operation of social and economic order could be affected. In addition, due to its location at the forefront of reform and opening up, southerners exhibit more pronounced modern personality traits than northerners, namely a greater tendency towards individualism. Based on this, it can be inferred that the reasons why the contradiction between rice theory and reality exists are as follows: its construction and understanding of collectivist culture is different from actual situation in China, and it has not sufficiently explored the huge and rapidly changing factors of self-construal.
Time-space transition provides a new perspective to explain the differences in cultural value between the north and south. The reform and opening up has led to leapfrog changes in cultural values. Based on the original collectivist culture, the South has quickly integrated more individualistic culture than the North due to its position of the forefront of reform and opening up, manifested in that being a collectivist culture as a whole, the south and north of China respectively lean towards individualism and collectivism. People in southern China have a higher proportion of independent self in their self-construal, and are relatively less concerned with relationship and the resulting gain and losses of face. Contemporaneity and adaptability are main features of "time-space transition" theory. Contemporaneity refers to the interpretation of current Chinese social psychology, which reflects people's cultural values in the process of Chinese path to modernization. Adaptability means that the change of cultural values has historical initiative, and is the result of the Chinese people's active choice and adaptation.
From the perspective of time-space transition, the collectivist culture is a dynamic concept with richer connotations, namely "developing collectivist culture". This concept contains both the excellent factors of the original collectivist culture of the Chinese nation, and some applicable factors that are organically absorbed from other cultures through social changes (mainly referring to individualistic cultural elements). With deep roots and abundant vitality, the developing collectivist culture has become a cultural driving force to promote the rapid development of China's economy, which not only breaks the "collectivism dilemma" of "weak economic growth of collectivist cultural countries", but also promotes the adjustment of Chinese new generation's self-construal in the process of adapting to social changes. The element of respecting diversity and showcasing individuality in "independent self" to some extent neutralizes the "relationship" factor of traditional "interdependent self" which could trouble people with Renqing and face. Retaining the core of interdependent self as well as incorporating the advantages of independent self, this "optimized self-construal" is a specific expression of the "free and comprehensive development of people" value in Chinese path to modernization. The developing collectivist culture and optimized self-construal can be seen as concrete practice and expression of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of our time in the specific fields of cultural motivation and self-construal. With its distinct local characteristics, the time-space transition theory reflects the Chinese wisdom of "open-minded and inclusive" and "adhering to principles and pursuing innovation". It also provides positive inspiration for the localization of social psychology.
National stereotype is an important aspect of stereotype, which involves the cognition of a particular social group about the political, economic, social, cultural, and traditional customs of a country. It also covers the immobilization, generalization, and evaluation of its citizens. The cognitive subject of national stereotype can be either this country or the citizen of this country. Its existence has certain psychological significance. The positive stereotype of a country may promote the willingness of outside groups to communicate with it and increase cultural identity, while the negative stereotype of a country may deepen the potential psychological distance between each other. Because of the particularity of the concept of the state, the content of the stereotype of the country is different. In particular, the national stereotype is not only associated with one impression, but also has various or even contradictory impressions on the image of a country or its national characteristics. The national stereotype represents a mixed impression, which can be recognized from the perspectives of affective and functional dimensions, collective and individual dimensions, enthusiasm and negative dimensions, and so on.
The activation of national stereotypes is often considered a controlled process of consciousness. In the face of situations that have not been previously purchased or lack of product attribute information, consumers will actively incorporate the existing national clues related to the product into their own evaluation criteria, thus forming an attitude towards the product. But current research also proves that the activation and use of national stereotypes can also be the result of unconsciousness and automation. When individuals identify products from a given country according to the clues in the situation, they are usually able to build various opinions and judgments on the quality and characteristics of the brand based on their own experience. The content or way of activation of national stereotypes will profoundly affect individual's subsequent emotional or behavioral tendencies. Because of the particularity of the cognitive subject of national stereotype, the factors influencing its activation are also various. When the existing clues are coordinated with the stereotyped cognition held by the individual, the activation of the relevant stereotype may be accelerated, but when the two are inconsistent, the activation performance is not necessarily inhibited or weakened, depending on the influence of multiple factors. Specifically, the activation of national stereotype is mainly affected by the specificity of the cognitive subject, the connection of cultural concepts, the compatibility of the occurrence situation and the adaptability of each other. These factors are indispensable for the initiation of the national stereotype, and can be used as a direction for further discussion.
As a collective schema, national stereotypes can quickly trigger an individual's cognitive and behavioral response to a country. Understanding the possible dimensions of an individual's stereotype of a country, and what factors affect the activation of this national stereotype can help the country to find more targeted solutions, reverse and shape a more suitable image of the country, it has important reference and practical significance for the future study of national stereotype.
