How do impulsivity traits influence problem gambling through gambling motives? The role of perceived gambling risk/benefits.

Although substantial research suggests that motivations have been found to mediate the relationships between impulsivity traits and various forms of substance use, no studies have examined how gambling motives may mediate the relationships between impulsivity traits and problem gambling. The primary purpose of this study was to test an integrative model linking impulsivity traits and gambling problems, evaluating the mediating effects of gambling motives. Participants were 594 students (73% male; mean age =19.92; SD=2.91) enrolled in public high schools or universities. Young people who tend to act rashly in response to extremely positive moods, showed higher enhancement and coping motives, which in turn were positively related to gambling problems. Individuals with higher levels of sensation seeking were more likely to have higher levels of enhancement motives, which in turn were also positively related to gambling problems. The model was examined in several groups, separately for the level of perceived gambling risk/benefits (lower perceived gambling risk, higher perceived gambling risk, lower perceived gambling benefits, and higher perceived gambling benefits). There were significant differences between these groups for this division. These findings suggest that prevention and/or treatment strategies might want to consider the model’s variables, including impulsivity traits and gambling motives, in accordance with individual levels of perceived gambling risk/benefits

A test of the Behavioral versus the Rational model of Persuasion in Financial Advertising

We present a test of the behavioral versus the rational model of advertising in the financial market. We analyze the Granger-causality relationship existing between Comit stock market index and advertising of financial products and services from the most important daily published financial newspaper in Italy. We run the test for both the risky and non-risky advertising, finding that the behavioral model of advertising is supported when risky financial products and services are considered, while the rational model is true for the non-risky. We ascribe this result to the dual process of reasoning: When investors evaluate the decision to buy risky financial products and services, they activate the automatic, rapid decision making process. The behavioral model of advertising copes with it and provides an advertising strategy that responds to market evolutions. When non-risky financial products and services are considered, a different mental process, requiring slow and sequential reasoning, operates, compatibly with a rational decision making process

How perceived scarcity predicted cooperation during early pandemic lockdown.

Both material resources (jobs, healthcare), and socio-psychological resources (social contact) decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated whether individual differences in perceived material and socio-psychological scarcity experienced during the pandemic predicted preference for cooperation, measured using two Public Good Games (PGGs), where participants contributed money or time (i.e., hours indoors contributed to shorten the lockdown). Material scarcity had no relationship with cooperation. Increased perceived scarcity of socio-psychological wellbeing (e.g., connecting with family) predicted increased preference for cooperation, suggesting that missing social contact fosters prosociality, whilst perceived scarcity of freedom (e.g., limited movement) predicted decreased willingness to spend time indoors to shorten the lockdown. The importance of considering individual differences in scarcity perception to best promote norm compliance is discussed

How decision context changes the balance between cost and benefit increasing charitable donations

Recent research on charitable donations shows that donors evaluate both the impact of helping and its cost. We asked whether these evaluations were affected by the context of alternative charitable causes. We found that presenting two donation appeals in joint evaluation, as compared to separate evaluation, increased the perceived benefit of the cause ranked as more important (Study 1), and decreased its perceived cost, regardless of the relative actual costs (Study 2). Finally, we try to reconcile an explanation based on perceived cost and benefit with previous work on charitable donations

Emotional Intelligence and risk taking in investment decision-making

Previous work on investment decision-making suggested that emotions prevent investors from taking risks and from investing in a rational way, whereas other work found that there is great variability in people’s ability to manage and use emotional feedbacks. We hypothesized that people with high trait emotional intelligence should be more willing, than people with low trait emotional intelligence, to accept risks when making an investment. Data supported a model in which trait emotional intelligence predicted willingness to invest both when the expected value is positive and when it is negative. The effect of trait emotional intelligence was significant even controlling for other variables, like attitude toward economic risk and money attitude. We believe that these results help improving the understanding of how emotions influence investors’ behavior and show that their role is not always detrimental but depends on the interplay between individual differences and situational factors

Asymmetric cost and benefit perceptions in willingness-to-donate decisions

Charitable giving entails the act of foregoing personal resources in order to improve the conditions of other people. In the present paper, we systematically examine two dimensions integral to donation decisions that have thus far received relatively little attention but can explain charitable behavior rather well: the perceptions of cost for the donor and benefit for the recipients. In line with current theories in judgment and decision making, we hypothesize that people weigh these dimensions subjectively and perceive them asymmetrically, consistent with prospect theory. Costs for the donor are typically perceived as losses, whereas benefits for recipients are perceived as gains. In four studies, we presented several scenarios to participants in which both donation amounts (costs) and number of lives helped (benefits) were manipulated while keeping the ratio of costs and benefits constant. Results from Studies 1 and 2 showed that willingness to help decreased as donation amounts and number of lives helped increased. Additionally, Studies 3 and 4 provide evidence for a solution to reduce the asymmetry and increase donation amounts as the number of lives at risk increases

The Influence of Affective Reactions on Investment Decisions

The present research aims to show how investors' affective reactions toward a fund influence their decision to sell the investment. Participants were presented with either a socially responsible or a traditional fund. After completing a mental images task, participants were asked to state the price at which they were willing to sell the fund and their confidence in future positive performance. Participants were willing to sell the fund at different prices depending on their affective reactions. The affective reactions also influenced participants' confidence. Furthermore, we found that the socially responsible fund induced a more positive reaction than the ordinary fund

\u201cGive, but Give until It Hurts\u201d: The Modulatory Role of Trait Emotional Intelligence on the Motivation to Help

Two studies investigated the effect of trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI) on people\u2019s moti- vation to help. In Study 1, we developed a new computer-based paradigm that tested partic- ipants\u2019 motivation to help by measuring their performance on a task in which they could gain a hypothetical amount of money to help children in need. Crucially, we manipulated partici- pants\u2019 perceived efficacy by informing them that they had been either able to save the chil- dren (positive feedback) or unable to save the children (negative feedback). We measured trait EI using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire\u2013Short Form (TEIQue-SF) and assessed participants\u2019 affective reactions during the experiment using the PANAS-X. Results showed that high and low trait EI participants performed differently after the presen- tation of feedback on their ineffectiveness in helping others in need. Both groups showed increasing negative affective states during the experiment when the feedback was negative; however, high trait EI participants better managed their affective reactions, modulating the impact of their emotions on performance and maintaining a high level of motivation to help. In Study 2, we used a similar computerized task and tested a control situation to explore the effect of trait EI on participants\u2019 behavior when facing failure or success in a scenario unre- lated to helping others in need. No effect of feedback emerged on participants\u2019 emotional states in the second study. Taken together our results show that trait EI influences the impact of success and failure on behavior only in affect-rich situation like those in which people are asked to help others in need

Intra-articular etanercept treatment for severe diffuse pigmented villonodular knee synovitis

Pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) is a rare pre-malignant disease that require aggressive treatment as surgical synovectomy, eventually followed by radiosynovectomy. Nevertheless, the disease often reoccurs after these treatments. To determine the safety and efficacy of intra-articular (IA) TNF-a blockade with etanercept (ETN), before extended arthroscopic synovectomy, in severe PVNS of the knee, two patients, (a 26-year-old man with B27+ undifferentiated spondylarthropathy and a 32-year-old femal with seronegative olygoarthritis), affected by diffuse knee PVNS (diagnosis made by histological examination), resistant to IA corticosteroid injections and to repeated arthroscopic synovectomy, were submitted, after protocol approval by human research committee and patient's written informed consent to intra-articular etanercept (IA-ETN) treatment with a different dosage schedule: 12.5 mg weekly IA-ETN injection for 4 weeks, followed by extended arthroscopic synovectomy and of 25 mg IA-ETN injection for 4 weeks, respectively. Previous DMARDs treatment was continued in stable appropriate doses. Any adverse events were recorded throughout the study. The following parameters were considered as clinical endpoints: 1) Knee Joint Index (KJI: range 0-14); 2) Thompson index (THI: range 0-9) At the study entry and at the end of follow-up, high frequency ultrasound grey scale synovial thickening (US-ST) was also assessed. No adverse events were observed due to IA-ETN and to arthroscopic synovectomy. Marked improvement of knee disease activity over time and sustained functional recover was obtained. US-ST evaluation before treatment initiation and at the end of follow-up confirmed the regression of knee joint synovial proliferatio