Emotion regulation mediates relationships between mindfulness facets and aggression dimensions

Recent years have witnessed an increase of research on socio‐affective factors that can explain individual differences in aggressive tendencies across community and offender populations. Specifically, mindfulness and emotion regulation have emerged as important factors, which could also constitute important prevention and treatment targets. Yet, recent studies have advanced the possibility that mindfulness may also have a “dark” side, being associated with increased levels of aggression‐related variables, especially when accounting for the variance associated with emotion regulation. The present study sought to elucidate relationships among mindfulness, emotion regulation, and aggression dimensions (i.e., verbal and physical aggression, anger, and hostility) across violent offender (N = 397) and community (N = 324) samples. Results revealed expected associations between both mindfulness and emotion regulation and aggression dimensions, such that greater impairments in mindfulness and emotion regulation were related to increased levels of aggression across samples. Further, analyses of indirect effects revealed that a latent emotion dysregulation factor accounted for (i.e., mediated) relationships between mindfulness facets and aggression dimensions in both samples. Previously reported positive associations between the residual variance in mindfulness scales (i.e., controlling for emotion regulation) and aggression‐related variables were not replicated in the current samples. Taken together, findings suggest that mindfulness and emotion regulation have unequivocal relations with lower levels of aggression, and should therefore be considered as relevant targets for prevention and treatment programs aimed at reducing aggressive tendencies

Identification of Emotional Facial Expressions: Effects of Expression, Intensity, and Sex on Eye Gaze

<p>Accuracy of emotion recognition for female (A) and male (B) faces, and response times for classifying female (C) and male (D) faces, by expression, and intensity.</p

Sustainable rural tourism: The ecological attitudes of visitors and farm-based tourism in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland

This thesis reports the findings of empirical research investigating the ecological attitudes of visitors and farm-based tourism in the rural region of Dumfries & Galloway, south-west Scotland. As the concept of sustainable rural tourism gathers momentum as an appropriate philosophy for addressing rural restructuring and agricultural decline, stakeholders in Dumfries & Galloway aim to position the region as an ecotourism or environmentally friendly destination. A review of literature reveals that ecotourism is a concept or activity seldom discussed in a Scottish or UK context, and this thesis queries the appropriateness and potential of ecotourism as a model for development in Dumfries & Galloway. This research questions whether visitors to Dumfries & Galloway can be differentiated by ecological attitude using the New Ecological Paradigm scale, concluding that all visitors hold pro ecological attitudes to a greater or lesser degree. Although all visitors were found to be similar in terms of demographics, those visiting the region for nature-focused activities hold significantly higher pro-ecological attitudes. Since attitudes are theorized as a precursor to behaviour, a major conclusion is that visitors who are most likely to react to the region's sought after status as an ecotourism destination are unlikely to consciously jeopardize the region's 'natural' assets. Farm-based tourism is a relatively under-researched form of rural tourism in Scotland. This thesis critiques farm-based accommodation as a sustainable form of rural tourism revealing that just 4.4% of main agricultural holdings in Dumfries & Galloway have adopted this signifier of the post-productivist transition. As a structural diversification for farmers its economic contribution is typically small but fundamental for farm survival and continuance of agricultural identity. Farm accommodation delivers important consumer experiences that few other forms of rural accommodation can achieve however the product is under-developed in both its networking potential and brand identity. The research reveals that the adoption of tourism on farms can reduce provider isolation and empower spouses, and is compatible with the concept of ecotourism through its environmental attributes, social and economic benefits. It is concluded that before Dumfries & Galloway can claim to be an ecotourism and environmentally friendly destination, a number of issues such as high private transport use and lack of environmentally accredited supply services need to be addressed

Cognitive, affective and social psychological correlates of psychopathic personality traits in offenders and non-offenders

This thesis aimed to investigate the cognitive, affective and social-psychological correlates of primary (selfish, uncaring) and secondary (reckless, prone to boredom) psychopathic traits. The results of Chapter 2 indicate that both primary and secondary psychopathic traits are associated with reduced empathic functioning. These results were supported by findings from Chapter 3, which suggest that elevated levels of secondary psychopathic traits may be linked with a lack of generosity for the out-group, but pro-social sentiment for the in-group. Chapter 4 used eye tracking to examine the cognitive mechanisms underlying empathic functioning and showed that primary psychopathic traits were linked with abnormal eye scan paths during an expression recognition task, indicated by reduced dwell time on the eye region of emotional faces. Chapter 5 further examined emotion recognition in an offending sample and revealed poor fearful face recognition among sexual and violent offenders. Furthermore, primary psychopathic traits were linked with greater impairment in fearful face recognition. Taken together, these findings show that primary and secondary psychopathic traits are linked with different patterns of performance on psychological tests. These results support the view that the variance accounted for by these traits should be considered separately in research and in clinical practic

Autistic traits and positive psychotic experiences modulate the association of psychopathic tendencies with theory of mind in opposite directions

Various clinical disorders, including psychopathy, and autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders, have been linked with impairments in Theory of Mind (ToM). However, although these conditions can co-occur in the same individual, the effect of their inter-play on ToM abilities has not been investigated. Here we assessed ToM abilities in 55 healthy adults while performing a naturalistic ToM task, requiring participants to watch a short film and judge the actors' mental states. The results reveal for the first time that autistic traits and positive psychotic experiences interact with psychopathic tendencies in opposite directions to predict ToM performance-the interaction of psychopathic tendencies with autism traits was associated with a decrement in performance, whereas the interaction of psychopathic tendencies and positive psychotic experiences was associated with improved performance. These effects were specific to cognitive rather than affective ToM. These results underscore the importance of the simultaneous assessment of these dimensions within clinical settings. Future research in these clinical populations may benefit by taking into account such individual differences

Boldness psychopathic traits predict reduced gaze toward fearful eyes in men with a history of violence

Research with developmental and adult samples has shown a relationship of psychopathic traits with reduced eye gaze. However, these relationships remained to be investigated among forensic samples. Here we examined the eye movements of male violent offenders during an emotion recognition task. Violent offenders performed similar to non-offending controls, and their eye movements varied with the emotion and intensity of the facial expression. In the violent offender group Boldness psychopathic traits, but not Meanness or Disinhibition, were associated with reduced dwell time and fixation counts, and slower first fixation latencies, on the eyes compared with the mouth. These results are the first to show a relationship of psychopathic traits with reduced attention to the eyes in a forensic sample, and suggest that Boldness is associated with difficulties in orienting attention toward emotionally salient aspects of the face

White-nose Syndrome at Mammoth Cave National Park: Actions Before and After Its Detection

Since it was identified in the United States in 2006, white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats has become an important issue in the management of caves and bats at Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA). The threat of its arrival has led to more intense monitoring of bat populations, increased studies, and interventions with both the visiting public and researchers. The timeline of MACA’s WNS response is shown in Table 1

Organic farming enhances parasitoid diversity at the local and landscape scales

1. The magnitude of the benefits derived from organic farming within contrasting managed landscapes remains unclear and, in particular, the potential scale-dependent response of insect parasitoids is relatively unexplored. Identifying the scale at which parasitoids are affected by organic farming will be an important step to enhance their conservation. 2. We sampled tachinid parasitoids at the centre and margin of arable and grassland fields on paired organic and conventional farms located in landscapes with different proportions of organic land. A total of 192 fields were sampled in two biogeographical regions of the UK. 3. We found that the positive effect of organic farming on tachinid parasitoid diversity can be observed at multiple spatial scales. At the local scale, we found higher abundance and species richness of tachinid parasitoids on organic than on conventional farms and on field margins than on field centres. At the landscape scale, the diversity of tachinids was higher in landscapes with higher proportions of organic land. At both scales, the positive effect of organic farming was clear for arable fields, while it was almost neutral for grasslands. 4. Synthesis and applications. Any attempt to enhance parasitoid diversity in agricultural landscapes needs to consider the local management in relation to the habitat type, location within the field and agricultural management in the surrounding landscape. To restore parasitoid diversity, the promotion of organic agriculture should aim to increase both the total extent of organic farming and the connectivity of individual farms. As the benefits of organic farming to biodiversity clearly spread beyond individual farm boundaries, any assessment of organic farming should consider these positive externalities