I Choose,Therefore I Like: Preference for Faces Induced by Arbitrary Choice

Behavioral choice alters one’s preference rather than simply reflecting it. This effect to fit preferences with past choice, is known as “choice-induced preference change.” After making a choice between two equally attractive options, one tends to rate the chosen option better than they initially did and/or the unchosen option worse. The present study examined how behavioral choice changes subsequent preference, using facial images for the choice options as well as blind choice techniques. Participants rated their facial preference for each face, and chose between two equally preferred faces and subsequently rated their facial preference. Results from four experiments demonstrated that randomly chosen faces were more preferred only after participants were required to choose “a preferred face,” (in Experiment 1) but not “an unpreferred face,” (in Experiment 2) or “a rounder face” (in Experiment 3). Further, preference change was still observed after participants were informed that choices were actually random (in Experiment 4). Our findings provide new and important implications characterizing the conditions under which random choice changes preference, and show that people are tempted to make a biased evaluation even after they know that they did not make the choice for themselves.     

Promoting inclusive metrics of success and impact to dismantle a discriminatory reward system in science

Success and impact metrics in science are based on a system that perpetuates sexist and racist “rewards” by prioritizing citations and impact factors. These metrics are flawed and biased against already marginalized groups and fail to accurately capture the breadth of individuals’ meaningful scientific impacts. We advocate shifting this outdated value system to advance science through principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We outline pathways for a paradigm shift in scientific values based on multidimensional mentorship and promoting mentee well-being. These actions will require collective efforts supported by academic leaders and administrators to drive essential systemic change.

This Essay argues that success and impact metrics in science are based on a system that perpetuates sexist and racist ‘rewards’ by prioritizing citations and impact factors; the authors advocate shifting this outdated value system to advance science through principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.     

Morals Matter in Economic Games

Contrary to predictions from Expected Utility Theory and Game Theory, when making economic decisions in interpersonal situations, people take the interest of others into account and express various forms of solidarity, even in one-shot interactions with anonymous strangers. Research in other-regarding behavior is dominated by behavioral economical and evolutionary biological approaches. Psychological theory building, which addresses mental processes underlying other-regarding behavior, is rare. Based on Relational Models Theory (RMT, [1]) and Relationship Regulation Theory (RRT, [2]) it is proposed that moral motives influence individuals’ decision behavior in interpersonal situations via conscious and unconscious (automatic) processes. To test our propositions we developed the ‘Dyadic Solidarity Game’ and its solitary equivalent, the ‘Self-Insurance Game’. Four experiments, in which the moral motives “Unity” and “Proportionality” were manipulated, support the propositions made. First, it was shown that consciously activated moral motives (via framing of the overall goal of the experiment) and unconsciously activated moral motives (via subliminal priming) influence other-regarding behavior. Second, this influence was only found in interpersonal, not in solitary situations. Third, by combining the analyses of the two experimental games the extent to which participants apply the Golden Rule (“treat others how you wish to be treated”) could be established. Individuals with a “Unity” motive treated others like themselves, whereas individuals with a “Proportionality” motive gave others less then they gave themselves. The four experiments not only support the assumption that morals matter in economic games, they also deliver new insights in how morals matter in economic decision making.     

The Distribution of the Asymptotic Number of Citations to Sets of Publications by a Researcher or from an Academic Department Are Consistent with a Discrete Lognormal Model

How to quantify the impact of a researcher’s or an institution’s body of work is a matter of increasing importance to scientists, funding agencies, and hiring committees. The use of bibliometric indicators, such as the h-index or the Journal Impact Factor, have become widespread despite their known limitations. We argue that most existing bibliometric indicators are inconsistent, biased, and, worst of all, susceptible to manipulation. Here, we pursue a principled approach to the development of an indicator to quantify the scientific impact of both individual researchers and research institutions grounded on the functional form of the distribution of the asymptotic number of citations. We validate our approach using the publication records of 1,283 researchers from seven scientific and engineering disciplines and the chemistry departments at the 106 U.S. research institutions classified as “very high research activity”. Our approach has three distinct advantages. First, it accurately captures the overall scientific impact of researchers at all career stages, as measured by asymptotic citation counts. Second, unlike other measures, our indicator is resistant to manipulation and rewards publication quality over quantity. Third, our approach captures the time-evolution of the scientific impact of research institutions.     

The Power of the Picture: How Narrative Film Captures Attention and Disrupts Goal Pursuit

Narrative transportation is described as a state of detachment that arises when one becomes immersed in the narrative of a story. Participants viewed either an intact version of an engaging 20 min film, “Bang You’re Dead!,” (1961) by Alfred Hitchcock (contiguous condition), or a version of the same film with scenes presented out of order (noncontiguous condition). In this latter condition, the individual scenes were intact but were presented out of chronological order. Participants were told a cover story that we were interested in the amount of gun violence depicted in films. Both groups were given the goal to remember to lift their hand every time they heard the word “gun” spoken during the film. Results revealed that participants were significantly less likely to remember to execute their goal in the contiguous condition, presumably because this narrative transported viewers’ attention and thereby “hijacked” processing resources away from internal goals.     

Is Beauty in the Face of the Beholder?

Opposing forces influence assortative mating so that one seeks a similar mate while at the same time avoiding inbreeding with close relatives. Thus, mate choice may be a balancing of phenotypic similarity and dissimilarity between partners. In the present study, we assessed the role of resemblance to Self’s facial traits in judgments of physical attractiveness. Participants chose the most attractive face image of their romantic partner among several variants, where the faces were morphed so as to include only 22% of another face. Participants distinctly preferred a “Self-based morph” (i.e., their partner’s face with a small amount of Self’s face blended into it) to other morphed images. The Self-based morph was also preferred to the morph of their partner’s face blended with the partner’s same-sex “prototype”, although the latter face was (“objectively”) judged more attractive by other individuals. When ranking morphs differing in level of amalgamation (i.e., 11% vs. 22% vs. 33%) of another face, the 22% was chosen consistently as the preferred morph and, in particular, when Self was blended in the partner’s face. A forced-choice signal-detection paradigm showed that the effect of self-resemblance operated at an unconscious level, since the same participants were unable to detect the presence of their own faces in the above morphs. We concluded that individuals, if given the opportunity, seek to promote “positive assortment” for Self’s phenotype, especially when the level of similarity approaches an optimal point that is similar to Self without causing a conscious acknowledgment of the similarity.     

Impact of Childhood Maltreatment on the Recognition of Facial Expressions of Emotions

The development of the explicit recognition of facial expressions of emotions can be affected by childhood maltreatment experiences. A previous study demonstrated the existence of an explicit recognition bias for angry facial expressions among a population of adolescent Sierra Leonean street-boys exposed to high levels of maltreatment. In the present study, the recognition bias for angry facial expressions was investigated in a younger population of street-children and age-matched controls. Participants performed a forced-choice facial expressions recognition task. Recognition bias was measured as participants’ tendency to over-attribute anger label to other negative facial expressions. Participants’ heart rate was assessed and related to their behavioral performance, as index of their stress-related physiological responses. Results demonstrated the presence of a recognition bias for angry facial expressions among street-children, also pinpointing a similar, although significantly less pronounced, tendency among controls. Participants’ performance was controlled for age, cognitive and educational levels and for naming skills. None of these variables influenced the recognition bias for angry facial expressions. Differently, a significant effect of heart rate on participants’ tendency to use anger label was evidenced. Taken together, these results suggest that childhood exposure to maltreatment experiences amplifies children’s “pre-existing bias” for anger labeling in forced-choice emotion recognition task. Moreover, they strengthen the thesis according to which the recognition bias for angry facial expressions is a manifestation of a functional adaptive mechanism that tunes victim’s perceptive and attentive focus on salient environmental social stimuli.     

Is “Appearing Chronically Ill” a Sign of Poor Health? A Study of Diagnostic Accuracy

Objective

To determine the sensitivity and specificity of a physician’s assessment that a patient “appears chronically ill” for the detection of poor health status.

Methods

The health status of 126 adult outpatients was determined using the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Physician participants (n = 111 residents and faculty) viewed photographs of each patient participant and assessed whether or not the patient appeared chronically ill. For the entire group of physicians, the median sensitivity and specificity of “appearing chronically ill” for the detection of poor health status (defined as SF-12 physical health score below age group norms by at least 1 SD) were calculated. The study took place from February 2009 to January 2011.

Results

Forty-two participants (33%) had an SF-12 physical health score ≥1 SD below age group norms, and 22 (18%) had a score ≥2 SD below age group norms. When poor health status was defined as an SF-12 physical score ≥1 SD below age group norms, the median sensitivity was 38.1% (IQR 28.6–47.6%), specificity 78.6% (IQR 69.0–84.0%), positive likelihood ratio 1.64 (IQR 1.42–2.15), and negative likelihood ratio 0.82 (IQR 0.74–0.87). For an SF-12 physical score ≥2 SD below age group norms, the median sensitivity was 45.5% (IQR 36.4–54.5%), specificity 76.9% (IQR 66.3–83.7%), positive likelihood ratio 1.77 (IQR 1.49–2.25), and negative likelihood ratio 0.75 (IQR 0.66–0.86).

Conclusions

Our study suggests that a physician’s assessment that a patient “appears chronically ill” has poor sensitivity and modest specificity for the detection of poor health status in adult outpatients. The associated likelihood ratios indicate that this assessment may have limited diagnostic value.     

Effects of Acute Cortisol Administration on Perceptual Priming of Trauma-Related Material

Intrusive memories are a hallmark symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They reflect excessive and uncontrolled retrieval of the traumatic memory. Acute elevations of cortisol are known to impair the retrieval of already stored memory information. Thus, continuous cortisol administration might help in reducing intrusive memories in PTSD. Strong perceptual priming for neutral stimuli associated with a “traumatic” context has been shown to be one important learning mechanism that leads to intrusive memories. However, the memory modulating effects of cortisol have only been shown for explicit declarative memory processes. Thus, in our double blind, placebo controlled study we aimed to investigate whether cortisol influences perceptual priming of neutral stimuli that appeared in a “traumatic” context. Two groups of healthy volunteers (N = 160) watched either neutral or “traumatic” picture stories on a computer screen. Neutral objects were presented in between the pictures. Memory for these neutral objects was tested after 24 hours with a perceptual priming task and an explicit memory task. Prior to memory testing half of the participants in each group received 25 mg of cortisol, the other half received placebo. In the placebo group participants in the “traumatic” stories condition showed more perceptual priming for the neutral objects than participants in the neutral stories condition, indicating a strong perceptual priming effect for neutral stimuli presented in a “traumatic” context. In the cortisol group this effect was not present: Participants in the neutral stories and participants in the “traumatic” stories condition in the cortisol group showed comparable priming effects for the neutral objects. Our findings show that cortisol inhibits perceptual priming for neutral stimuli that appeared in a “traumatic” context. These findings indicate that cortisol influences PTSD-relevant memory processes and thus further support the idea that administration of cortisol might be an effective treatment strategy in reducing intrusive reexperiencing.     

Young Toddlers’ Word Comprehension Is Flexible and Efficient

Much of what is known about word recognition in toddlers comes from eyetracking studies. Here we show that the speed and facility with which children recognize words, as revealed in such studies, cannot be attributed to a task-specific, closed-set strategy; rather, children’s gaze to referents of spoken nouns reflects successful search of the lexicon. Toddlers’ spoken word comprehension was examined in the context of pictures that had two possible names (such as a cup of juice which could be called “cup” or “juice”) and pictures that had only one likely name for toddlers (such as “apple”), using a visual world eye-tracking task and a picture-labeling task (n = 77, mean age, 21 months). Toddlers were just as fast and accurate in fixating named pictures with two likely names as pictures with one. If toddlers do name pictures to themselves, the name provides no apparent benefit in word recognition, because there is no cost to understanding an alternative lexical construal of the picture. In toddlers, as in adults, spoken words rapidly evoke their referents.     

Involvement of the Intrinsic/Default System in Movement-Related Self Recognition

The question of how people recognize themselves and separate themselves from the environment and others has long intrigued philosophers and scientists. Recent findings have linked regions of the ‘default brain’ or ‘intrinsic system’ to self-related processing. We used a paradigm in which subjects had to rely on subtle sensory-motor synchronization differences to determine whether a viewed movement belonged to them or to another person, while stimuli and task demands associated with the “responded self” and “responded other” conditions were precisely matched. Self recognition was associated with enhanced brain activity in several ROIs of the intrinsic system, whereas no differences emerged within the extrinsic system. This self-related effect was found even in cases where the sensory-motor aspects were precisely matched. Control conditions ruled out task difficulty as the source of the differential self-related effects. The findings shed light on the neural systems underlying bodily self recognition.     

Toward Sustaining Women in Careers in Core Laboratories—A Workshop Review Including Recommendations from the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities

Review of “From Doctorate to Dean or Director: Sustaining Women Through Critical Transition Points in Science, Engineering, and Medicine” (workshop held by the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine of the National Academies, Washington DC, September 18–19, 2008).Approximately 50% of the membership in the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF) includes scientists working in core facilities, i.e., a biological resource facility. A core facility, whether it resides in an academic, government, or industrial sector, provides affordable access to technologies and expertise in such fields as proteomics-related techniques, mass spectrometry, DNA sequencing and analysis, bioinformatics, and N-terminal protein sequence analysis, whih would otherwise be too expensive for most individual labs to acquire. Careers in core facilities, unless integrated into a tenure line, are distinct from traditional academic jobs. The critical transition point in a core facility career is from bench scientist to core facility director. The role of bench scientists is to maintain a high working level of technological proficiency in the techniques offered by the laboratory, while continuing to expand their skill set to incorporate the latest technological advances. The role of the director encompasses those of the bench scientist in addition to responsibilities for personnel and budget management, obtaining competitive grants, and developing and maintaining a satisfied customer base. In a workshop entitled “From Doctorate to Dean or Director: Sustaining Women Through Critical Transition Points in Science, Engineering, and Medicine” (held by the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine of the National Academies, Washington DC, September 18–19, 2008), the ABRF and sixteen other professional societies presented data relating to field-specific gender issues as well as recommendations to sustain women through transition points in their scientific careers.In an ABRF survey study published in Nature Biotechnology in 2000,¹ the percentage of male employees holding MDs or PhDs across all core facility sectors was significantly greater than the percentage of female employees (24% and 9%, respectively). The government core facilities showed the highest level of disparity: 39% of males with an MD or PhD vs. 7% of females with these degrees (N = 42 government employee respondents). Of all the male employees hired by government-run core facilities, 54.6% held MDs or PhDs; among female employees, 19.4% held MDs or PhDs. However, in contrast to national trends, there is no significant difference in salaries for men and women at the same degree level at core facilities¹ in all sectors. Since compensation for men and women holding PhDs in core facilities is equal, why do the numbers of men and women at the PhD level working in core facilities differ significantly? This discrepancy raises the important question as to whether women with PhDs are represented in the job applicant pool in the expected ratio, and whether women are selected for core facility director positions in numbers that reflect their overall numbers within the field. If women with PhDs are found not to be represented in the applicant pool in the expected ratio, then one potential reason for the disparity could be gender hiring biases. Alternatively, the number of years on the job could also have skewed the results if more female PhDs were newer hires (data not reported), as newer employees feel increased job stress and might be less likely to respond to such a survey. The critical question remaining is whether these skews translate into fewer female core facility scientists entering director positions, as most facility directors hold advanced degrees. Since this study is somewhat dated, it is important to readdress, perhaps with a new comprehensive survey, whether these disparities still exist in core facilities, especially now when women and men in the sciences are earning their PhDs at nearly equal rates.²This study was discussed at the workshop and overall there was great enthusiasm for a new survey to address the issues. At the workshop, the observation that the number of women scientists decreases with advancing professional rank was coined the “leaky pipeline.” The leaky pipeline itself may also be a mitigating factor for the skewed gender statistics in core facility laboratories, and the workshop panelists explored this phenomenon in great detail. Joan Girgus, Professor of Psychology and Special Assistant to the Dean of the Faculty for issues concerning faculty diversity at Princeton University, attributes the leaky pipeline in part to competing family commitments. To address this specifically, Princeton has a comprehensive family-benefits program that includes (1) travel awards to offset childcare expenses when scientific conferences are attended, and (2) a dependent-care backup program. Dr. Phoebe Leboy, President of the Association for Women in Science, attributes the leaky pipeline in part to family issues, self-confidence, and more entrenched obstacles of a “chilly climate” or “locker-room mentality” where women are demeaned and undervalued, and suggests that the culture of science is designed for men, in the sense that to succeed in the environment of a normal 12-hour-plus work day relies on there being a woman at home to take care of the family and family business. She offered thought-provoking ideas for culture change including basing hiring decisions on the quality of publications and grant scores, rather than the sheer numbers of publications and grants obtained. Pardis Sabeti, a young and enthusiastic new Assistant Professor of Systems Biology at Harvard University, attributes the leaky pipeline to self-confidence issues, claiming that women in general must feel “100% prepared to apply to a new position,” whereas men may be bolder and “apply if they feel only 60% qualified.” This type of discrepancy in gender psychology may well explain gender skews in job applicant pools.One other mitigating factor that was discussed is the length of time it takes to obtain a PhD degree. Michelle Cilia, a Postdoctoral Associate with the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service at Cornell University, pointed out an exemplary new PhD program that is aimed at shortening the length of time to get the degree by changing the culture of the PhD program without sacrificing the quality of education. This graduate school, The Watson School of Biological Sciences at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, combines innovative coursework, bi-yearly committee meetings organized by the graduate school administrators, and a two-tier mentoring system to assist students toward the goal of a 4-year PhD. Thus, while there are many “leaks in the pipeline,” both individuals and organizations are sealing these leaks to foster improvement in retaining women in their fields. What role can the ABRF play in helping to sustain women in their scientific professions?The ABRF as an organization could potentially provide the resources, such as a mentoring program, to help women scientists along the career track from bench scientist to core facility director in the absence of other institutional support such as tenure reviews and departmental support. Currently, no such programs are established. Female core facility scientists are not alone in feeling the adverse effects of the lack of resources such as mentoring programs, for the current cohort of women chemists in academia has reported mentoring gaps and gender biases at some point during their careers.³ It is not clear whether the lack of such programs indicates that there is limited interest in mentoring female scientists who wish to become core directors or if few female scientists are on such a track and seek assistance. With the growing need for proteomics, bioinformatics, and genome sequencing services, core facilities are in high demand and are now found at almost every major research university and medical center. This growth translates into more job opportunities for women scientists. Given the rapid growth of this relatively young career path, the absence of mentorship support, and the unequal numbers of male and female employees holding advanced degrees in core facilities, the ABRF and its members would benefit from learning about and implementing proven strategies to help female members rise from the ranks of scientist to core facility director. There are numerous things the ABRF as a professional society can do to directly address issues that disproportionately affect women:

1. Gather data through the ABRF Survey Committee to identify gaps between the genders in areas that might contribute to the leaky pipeline such as the job applicant pool, promotions, job satisfaction, number of years on the job, number of women in core director positions, and the availability of family-friendly benefits packages. The Survey Committee might consider enlisting the services of a survey research specialist in designing the survey.
2. Institute a mentoring program that encourages networking and additional training to tackle the added job responsibilities of a core facility director. This can be done at annual meetings in the form of professional development workshops. For example, the American Society for Cell Biology has two programs associated with their annual meeting: one geared toward new faculty, which helps new assistant professors tackle the demands of the pre-tenure phase, and “Reboot Camp” for older faculty who might be left behind advances in technology or policies.
3. Elevate the status of the profession. Core directors are critical to the advancement and achievement of research goals and technology in all sectors. However, many feel underappreciated and not fully recognized for their work, especially if their positions are not clearly defined by the university. Through the Survey Committee, the ABRF might gather data on how core facility directors feel they are perceived by their colleagues. Local meetings, such as the Northeast Regional Life Sciences Core Directors meeting, provide networking opportunities and a great platform for core facility directors to discuss specific issues pertaining to their position.
4. Encourage undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers to use core facilities for interdisciplinary aspects of their research. Doing so will expose young scientists to alternative career options and give them networking opportunities outside their field of study. The ABRF began this tradition at last year’s 2008 annual meeting when they presented two postdoctoral scientists with awards for collaborating with core facilities, and also gave them the opportunity to present their research at the annual meeting.

The ABRF presented these suggestions at the workshop so as to highlight a distinct, new career path for women scientists and some of the unique barriers they may have to overcome while pursuing the career as core director, and to highlight what the ABRF can do to help sustain women through their career transitions. During the transition from scientist to director, a woman faces the same professional challenges as faculty members and university administrators, while also having to deal with the personal challenges that confront all working female scientists.² Women would thus benefit greatly from the same training and mentoring programs available to these other professionals.To address the issues facing women in core facility careers, the ABRF has taken the important first step of organizing a workshop at the upcoming 2009 annual meeting. Much can be learned from the workshop reviewed here—“From Doctorate to Dean or Director: Sustaining Women Through Critical Transition Points in Science, Engineering, and Medicine”—and its lessons might be useful as discussion points for the ABRF 2009 workshop. The overall themes that guided the panelist’s discussions and the suggestions offered by other professional societies mirror the concerns of the ABRF. Gathering information and disseminating the results of studies on issues pertaining to women, in particular women of color, is critical to the success of any workshop examining the lives of women in the world of science. Professional societies must be engaged as a vehicle for bringing change about in the culture of science; however, administrators must also be brought on board for change to occur in any systematic way. Basic issues like self-confidence, learning how to prioritize at work, and how to manage the work–family juggle have a big impact on a woman’s decision to stay in science. Outreach and education are important so senior women scientists can serve as examples for the aspiring youth, in particular with regard to teaching young women how to advantageously use their professional network. Mentorship and family-friendly benefit programs can can have a profound effect on the effort to retain women in science. Even more than a mentor, women need champions who will go to bat for them for the big promotion at the critical transition. An example of such a champion is Dr. Eugene P. Orringer, Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, and the school’s Executive Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. As the principal investigator of a $2.5-million grant from the National Institutes of Health—“Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health” (BIRCWH, pronounced “birch”)—he has directly helped, through instituting a mentorship program, 24 young faculty (22 of them women) obtain National Institutes of Health “K” or “R” grants at a rate of nearly 100%. Finally, leadership and inspiration are vital to success in every scientific endeavor and the ABRF is in a unique position, being an active professional society with a significant membership population of core facility directors, to provide such leadership and inspiration to their core facilities scientists who aspire to directorships or beyond.     

Applications and Enrolments at the Western Medical Schools: A Study of Medical Matriculants for 1964

All applicants and those who subsequently enrolled for the 1964-65 session in the Western medical schools were studied with the hope that it would encourage a national registration of applicants. Seven hundred and sixty-four applicants completed 865 applications for 288 places in four schools. Although the principal factor in selecting medical students in all Western schools is pre-medical performance, 49 “good-quality” (academically of good standing and under 30 years of age) resident applicants were not accepted in their own provincial school, and 49 places were filled with “poor-quality” students.The loss of good applicants to the Western medical schools and the 20% overlap of each school''s applicant pool with that of other schools suggests that objective standards of quality must be developed, and that a regular annual national assessment of applicants should be conducted by the Association of Canadian Medical Colleges.     

50 Years of Women in Cell Biology: Where have we been? Where are we going?

It’s been 50 years since Women in Cell Biology (WICB) was founded by junior women cell biologists who found themselves neither represented at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) presentations nor receiving the information, mentoring, and sponsorship they needed to advance their careers. Since then, gender parity at ASCB has made significant strides: WICB has become a standing ASCB committee, women are regularly elected president of the ASCB, and half the symposia speakers are women. Many of WICB’s pioneering initiatives for professional development, including career panels, workshops, awards for accomplishments in science and mentoring, and career mentoring roundtables, have been incorporated and adapted into broader “professional development” that benefits all members of ASCB. The time has passed when we can assume that all women benefit equally from progress. By strategically, thoughtfully, and honestly recognizing the challenges to women of the past and today, we may anticipate those new challenges that will arise in the next 50 years. WICB, in collaboration with the ASCB, can lead in data collection and access and can promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. This work will be a fitting homage to the women who, half a century ago, posted bathroom stall invitations to the first Women in Cell Biology meetup.     

Who Needs Cream and Sugar When There Is Eco-Labeling? Taste and Willingness to Pay for “Eco-Friendly” Coffee

Participants tasted two cups of coffee, decided which they preferred, and then rated each coffee. They were told (in lure) that one of the cups contained “eco-friendly” coffee while the other did not, although the two cups contained identical coffee. In Experiments 1 and 3, but not in Experiment 2, the participants were also told which cup contained which type of coffee before they tasted. The participants preferred the taste of, and were willing to pay more for, the “eco-friendly” coffee, at least those who scored high on a questionnaire on attitudes toward sustainable consumer behavior (Experiment 1). High sustainability consumers were also willing to pay more for “eco-friendly” coffee, even when they were told, after their decision, that they preferred the non-labeled alternative (Experiment 2). Moreover, the eco-label effect does not appear to be a consequence of social desirability, as participants were just as biased when reporting the taste estimates and willingness to pay anonymously (Experiment 3). Eco labels not only promote a willingness to pay more for the product but also lead to a more favorable perceptual experience of it.     

Closing the health equity gap: A role for implementation science?

Beryne Odeny discusses strategies to improve equity in health care and health research.

WHO defines health equity as “the absence of unfair and avoidable or remediable differences in health among population groups defined socially, economically, demographically, or geographically or by other means of stratification” [1]. Yet, contrary to this fundamental aspiration and the international mandate on universal health coverage (UHC), almost 50% of the world’s population does not receive needed health services, and progress toward health equity remains elusive [2].     

Changes in Eating Attitudes,Body Esteem and Weight Control Behaviours during Adolescence in a South African Cohort

Failure to consume an adequate diet or over consumption during adolescence can disrupt normal growth and development, resulting in undesirable weight change. This leads to an increase in unhealthy weight control practices related to eating and exercise among both adolescent girls and boys to meet the societal ‘ideal’ body shape. This study therefore aims to examine the longitudinal changes in eating attitudes, body-esteem and weight control behaviours among adolescents between 13 and 17 years; and, to describe perceptions around body shape at age 17 years. A total of 1435 urban South African black and mixed ancestry boys and girls, who had data at both age 13 and 17 years from the Birth to Twenty cohort were included. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires on eating attitudes (EAT-26), body esteem and weight control behaviours for either weight loss or muscle gain attempts. Height and weight were measured at both time points and BMI was calculated. Black females had a higher BMI (p<0.001) and an increased risk of developing eating disorders as well as significant increase in the prevalence of weight loss practices between the ages 13 and 17 years. At age 17 years both Mixed ancestry adolescents had lower body-esteem compared to black adolescents. The prevalence of possible eating disorders was 11% and 13.1% in early and late adolescents respectively. Males and females shared similar opinions on normal silhouettes being the ‘best’, ‘getting respect’ and being the ‘happiest’, while the obese silhouette was associated with the ‘worst’ and the ‘unhappiest’, and the underweight silhouette with the “weakest”. Black females had a higher BMI and an increased risk of developing eating disorders. Adolescent females engaged more in weight loss practices whereas, males in muscle gain practices indicating that Western norms of thinness as the ideal are becoming more common in South Africa.     

Feeling Bad and Looking Worse: Negative Affect Is Associated with Reduced Perceptions of Face-Healthiness

Some people perceive themselves to look more, or less attractive than they are in reality. We investigated the role of emotions in enhancement and derogation effects; specifically, whether the propensity to experience positive and negative emotions affects how healthy we perceive our own face to look and how we judge ourselves against others. A psychophysical method was used to measure healthiness of self-image and social comparisons of healthiness. Participants who self-reported high positive (N = 20) or negative affectivity (N = 20) judged themselves against healthy (red-tinged) and unhealthy looking (green-tinged) versions of their own and stranger’s faces. An adaptive staircase procedure was used to measure perceptual thresholds. Participants high in positive affectivity were un-biased in their face health judgement. Participants high in negative affectivity on the other hand, judged themselves as equivalent to less healthy looking versions of their own face and a stranger’s face. Affective traits modulated self-image and social comparisons of healthiness. Face health judgement was also related to physical symptom perception and self-esteem; high physical symptom reports were associated a less healthy self-image and high self-reported (but not implicit) self-esteem was associated with more favourable social comparisons of healthiness. Subject to further validation, our novel face health judgement task could have utility as a perceptual measure of well-being. We are currently investigating whether face health judgement is sensitive to laboratory manipulations of mood.     

Experiences of Stigma and Discrimination among Caregivers of Persons with Schizophrenia in China: A Field Survey

In China, caregivers for family members with schizophrenia play an important role in treatment and recovery but may experience stigma and discrimination simply because of their family relationship. The object of this study was to measure the degrees and correlates of stigma and discrimination experiences among this group. Four hundred twenty-seven caregivers participated in this hospital-based and cross-sectional study in Ningbo and Guangzhou, China. Data were collected by trained interviewers using fixed questionnaires. Stigma and discrimination experiences were measured by the Modified Consumer Experiences of Stigma Questionnaire (MCESQ). Caregivers’ social support was measured by the Social Support Rating Scale. Parametric analysis, nonparametric analysis and multivariate linear regression were used. The mean (SD) score of MCESQ was 2.44(0.45), 2.91(0.71) for stigma experiences and 1.97(0.37) for discrimination experiences on a five-point score (“1 = never” and “5 = very often”). Approximately 65% of caregivers reported that they tried to conceal their family members’ illness, and 71% lacked the support of friends. The experience of stigma was significantly negatively associated with the perceived social support of caregivers (standard β = −0.2,p<0.001). Caregivers who were children of the patients experienced fewer stigmas than other (standard β = −0.18, p<0.001). Urban residence (standard β = −0.12, p<0.01) and patients did not complete primary school education (standard β = −0.13, p<0.01) were negatively related with stigmas. In addition, stigma and discrimination was more experienced in Zhejiang than in Guangdong (p<0.05). In conclusion, this study performed that caregivers of people with schizophrenia in China experienced general stigmas and rare discrimination and found the relations with social support, kinship, patient’s educational level and regional differences. More interventions and supports should been given to caregivers who are lack of social support, who live in rural area and who are the patients’ parents, spouses or siblings.