Bulletin of NTU "KhPI". Series: Problems of Electrical Machines and Apparatus Perfection. The Theory and Practice / Вісник Національного технічного університету "ХПІ". Серія: Проблеми удосконалювання електричних машин і апаратів. Теорія і практика
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On the relation of boredom and sadistic aggression
No full textWhat gives rise to sadism? While sadistic behavior (i.e., harming others for pleasure) is well-documented, past empirical research is nearly silent regarding the psychological factors behind it. We help close this gap by suggesting that boredom plays a crucial role in the emergence of sadistic tendencies. Across nine diverse studies, we provide correlational and experimental evidence for a link between boredom and sadism. We demonstrate that sadistic tendencies are more pronounced among people who report chronic proneness to boredom in everyday life (Studies 1A-1F, N = 1780). We then document that this relationship generalizes across a variety of important societal contexts, including online trolling; sadism in the military; sadistic behavior among parents; and sadistic fantasies (Studies 2-5, N = 1740). Finally, we manipulate boredom experimentally and show that inducing boredom increases sadistic behavior (i.e., killing worms; destroying other participants’ pay; Studies 6-9, N = 4097). However, alternatives matter: When several behavioral alternatives are available, boredom only motivates sadistic behavior among individuals with high dispositional sadism (Study 7). Conversely, when there is no alternative, boredom increases sadistic behavior across the board, even among individuals low in dispositional sadism (Studies 8 & 9). We further show that excitement and novelty seeking mediate the effects of boredom, and that boredom not only promotes sadistic (proactive) aggression, but reactive aggression as well (Study 9). Overall, the present work contributes to a better understanding of sadism and highlights the destructive potential of boredom. We discuss implications for basic research on sadism and boredom, as well as applied implications for society at large
The back-scratching game
No full textWe develop a new experiment to study the emergence of welfare-reducing bilateral alliances within larger groups, and the effectiveness of institutional interventions to curtail ‘back-scratching’. In each of the 25 rounds of our experiments, a player (the ‘allocator’) nominates one of three others in a group as a co-worker (the ‘receiver’), which determines the group production that period to be the productivity of the receiver (which varies by round), but also gives the receiver a bonus and makes them the allocator in the next round. Alliances then form if two individuals keep choosing each other even when their productiv- ities are lower than that of others, causing efficiency losses. We study whether particular interventions reduce the rate of alliance formation. Random allocator rotation policies were found to be ineffective, whether implemented prior to, or following, a baseline treatment. Low bonuses did significantly reduce the advent of alliances. There hence seems to be some hope in preventing back-scratching via reducing the gain that can be made by alliances
Evidence of parallel evolution in the dental elements of Sweetognathus conodonts
No full textThe repeated emergence of similar morphologies in the dental elements of Permian Sweetognathus conodonts has been a hypothesized example of parallel evolution. To test if morphological parallelisms occur between isolated Sweetognathus lineages, this study uses two-dimensional-based geometric morphometrics combined with a revised and expanded phylogeny of Permian Sweetognathus conodonts to quantify dental element trait distributions and compare the phenotypic trajectories between lineages. A hierarchical clustering method was used to identify recurrent species pairs based on principal component scores describing their morphological variation, with the further incorporation of widely used ecological metrics such as limiting similarity and morphological overlap. Our research implies that a major contributor to conodont diversity in Palaeozoic marine trophic networks is the emergence of recurrent parallel morphologies via disruptive and directional selection. This study illustrates the mechanisms through which conodonts achieved their status as hyper-diverse predators and scavengers, contributing substantially to the complexity of Palaeozoic marine communities
Climate change threats increase modern racism as a function of social dominance orientation and ingroup identification
No full textProcessing information on the negative consequences of climate change can have unrelated side- effects such as increased outgroup derogation. Previous research suggests differing theoretical explanations for these “generalization” effects such as buffering existential anxiety. Across two pre-registered experiments (N = 1031; USA & UK), we examine whether ingroup identification and social dominance orientation (SDO) moderate the relationship between experimentally induced collective threats and subjective threat perceptions (i.e., climate change and intergroup threat), modern racism, and pro-environmental collective action support. In Study 1, SDO and ingroup identification were measured 2 years prior to our experiment as antecedents of threat perceptions. Our results suggest that informing individuals about negative consequences of climate change (e.g., wildfires, floods, resource scarcity, health, etc.), leads to higher intergroup threat perceptions and modern racism. These generalization effects, in turn, are moderated by SDO but not by ingroup identification. In Study 2, we successfully replicate our findings, measuring SDO and ingroup identification directly after the threat manipulation. Moreover, we use a behavioral measure of pro-environmental collective action to assess more direct stimuli- responses. In Study 2, again, we show that SDO moderates the generalization effects. In contrast, ingroup identification showed only marginally significant moderation of the generalization effect and did not increase itself in response to experimental threat-cues. Notably, we also find that intergroup threat-cues generalize onto higher climate change threat perceptions. No effects on behavioral collective action support were found
Shifting from Face-to-Face to Online Teaching During COVID-19: The Role of University Faculty Achievement Goals for Attitudes Towards This Sudden Change, and Their Relevance for Burnout/Engagement and Student Evaluations of Teaching Quality
No full textAs a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many higher education faculty members were required to abruptly shift from face-to-face to online teaching. Within this, some instructors managed well, while others struggled. To elucidate interindividual differences in online teaching and learn-ing during this unexpected circumstance, we focus on faculty members’ attitudes towards this shift and examine their associations with underlying motivations as well as burnout/engagement and student learning. We analyzed longitudinal data of 80 faculty members’ achievement goals during the semester prior to shifting to online teaching, and their attitudes and burn-out/engagement during the first semester with enforced online teaching. Additionally, we used 703 student ratings of these faculty members’ teaching quality in terms of student learning. Re-sults indicated that learning approach goals of faculty were positively associated with perceiving the shift to online teaching as a positive challenge and as useful for their own competence de-velopment. Conversely, performance (appearance) avoidance goals and work avoidance goals went along with perceiving this change as threatening, which, in turn, was related to increased burnout levels and students reporting their learning to be worse. Taken together, these findings point to the relevance of faculty goals and attitudes for successful online teaching and learning
Regulation and innovation revisited: How restrictive environments can promote destabilizing new technologies
No full textPrevious literature offers conflicting findings on how the restrictiveness of the regulatory environment—the amount of rules that prohibit specific activities—affects innovation of firms. One camp suggests that restrictiveness circumscribes the range of available technological components and therefore decreases innovation. The other camp believes that restrictiveness can lead firms to seek new alternative technological components, which could increase innovation. In this article, we develop a new theory on regulation and innovation to reconcile these views, which we test using novel data on federal regulations and the patents of 1,242 firms, from 1994 to 2013. We find that restrictiveness can have both a negative and positive relationship with innovation output depending on the level of regulatory uncertainty and the innovation type in question
Human adaptation to climate change: An introduction to the special issue
No full textOBJECTIVES. Despite our focus on adaptation and human responses to climate, evolutionary and biological anthropologists (EBAs) are largely absent from conversations about contemporary “climate-change adaptation,” a term popular in other disciplines, the development world, and related policy decisions. EBAs are missing a big opportunity to contribute to impactful, time-sensitive applied work: we have extensive theoretical and empirical knowledge pertinent to conversations about climate-change adaptation and to helping support communities as they cope. This special issue takes a tour of EBA contributions to our understanding of climate-change adaptation, from data on past and contemporary human communities to theoretically informed predictions about how individuals and communities will respond to climate change now and in the future. First, however, we must establish what we mean by “climate change” and “adaptation,” along with other terms commonly used by EBAs; review what EBAs know about adaptation and about human responses to climate change; and identify just a few topics EBAs study that are pertinent to ongoing conversations about climate-change adaptation. In this article, we do just that. CONCLUSION. From our work on energy use to our work on demography, subsistence, social networks, and the salience of climate change to local communities, EBAs have an abundance of data and theoretical insights to help inform responses to contemporary climate change. We need to better reach the climate community and general public with our contributions
Should you save the more useful? The effect of generality on moral judgments about rescue and indirect effects
No full textAcross eight experiments (N = 2,310), we studied whether people would prioritize rescuing individuals who may be thought to contribute more to society. We found that participants were generally dismissive of general rules that prioritize more socially beneficial individuals, such as doctors instead of unemployed people. By contrast, participants were more supportive of one-off decisions to save the life of a more socially beneficial individual, even when such cases were the same as those covered by the rule. This generality effect occurred robustly even when controlling for various factors. It occurred when the decision-maker was the same in both cases, when the pairs of people differing in the extent of their indirect social utility was varied, when the scenarios were varied, when the participant samples came from different countries, and when the general rule only covered cases that are exactly the same as the situation described in the one-off condition. The effect occurred even when the general rule was introduced via a concrete precedent case. Participants’ tendency to be more supportive of the one-off proposal than the general rule was significantly reduced when they evaluated the two proposals jointly as opposed to separately. Finally, the effect also occurred in sacrificial moral dilemmas, suggesting it is a more general phenomenon in certain moral contexts. We discuss possible explanations of the effect, including concerns about negative consequences of the rule and a deontological aversion against making difficult trade-off decisions unless they are absolutely
necessary
CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERNET USE AMONGST ITALIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
No full textBackground: Problematic Internet use (PIU), that may be defined as the inability to control one’s use of Internet with negative consequences in daily life, is an emerging problem involving primarily, but not only young generations. Different studies have shown that students are particularly vulnerable to PIU. Given the paucity of information on PIU in our country, the aim of this paper was at investigating the characteristics of PIU amongst Italian University students.
Subjects and methods: A self-assessment questionnaire, referred by the acronym QUNT (“Questionario sull’Utilizzo delle Nuove Tecnologie”), composed by 101 items grouped together to identify a series of factors, was developed and sent through e-mail invitation to several students from three Italian Universities.
Results: The returned questionnaires were 3324, out of a total of 51,304 sent, with no difference between the two sexes. On the contrary, the distribution of the QUNT factors was different in the two sexes, in people living alone and in overweight subjects. Men resulted to be more involved in online recreational activities, whereas women seemed more attracted to instant messaging and generally to social networks. PIU was significantly more present in men than women. The comparisons of QUNT factor scores in the four BMI categories showed that the greater the BMI the greater the score of some factors.
Conclusions: The findings of the present study indicate that the use of Internet through new technologies may exceed its real utility amongst Italian university student, with some sex-related differences. Men seem more prone to use Internet for passing time and women for social relationships. Men are also at risk of developing PIU. Again, Internet use might be a basic vulnerability factor of increasing weight gain and obesity amongst young people
Hygienists, Caregivers, Oblivious and Other COVID-19 Confined Canadians: Market Segmentation Analysis of Their Routine Activities
No full textThis study examined routine activities reported in a survey sample of 4,600 adult Canadians aged 15 years old and over during the COVID-19 confinement period of May 4-10, 2020 and collected by Statistics Canada. A marketing segmentation analysis was carried out using a roster of 26 typical weekly activity items leading to the extraction of typical activity patterns and the identification of six major segments present in the Canadian adult population: "Hygienists" (25%), "Caregivers"(14%), "Sound Body Minders" (23%), "Home-centric" (19%), "Media-centric" (9%) and "Oblivious" (10%). Weekly activities included a wide range of actions such as washing hands, avoiding crowds, watching T.V., internet browsing, exercising, alcohol consumption and others. The six population segments were identified using a combination of principal component and k-means cluster statistical analysis. Marketing segmentation is a useful tool for decision makers to categorize population members and, by doing so, facilitate better public campaigns, help design messages and implement changes that can promote more efficient ways to deal with the various societal consequences of the COVID-19 confinement