COVID-19 Demand Shocks Revisited: Did Advertising Technology Help Mitigate Adverse Consequences for Small and Midsize Businesses?

Research has investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business performance and survival, indicating particularly adverse effects for small and midsize businesses (SMBs). Yet only limited work has examined whether and how online advertising technology may have helped shape these outcomes, particularly for SMBs. The aim of this study is to address this gap. By constructing and analyzing a novel data set of more than 60,000 businesses in 49 countries, we examine the impact of government lockdowns on business survival. Using discrete-time survival models with instrumental variables and staggered difference-in-differences estimators, we find that government lockdowns increased the likelihood of SMB closure around the world but that use of online advertising technology attenuates this adverse effect. The findings show heterogeneity in country, industry, and business size, consistent with theoretical expectations

Individual differences in neural responses to social rejection: The joint effect of self-esteem and attentional control

Individuals with low self-esteem have been found to react more negatively to signs of interpersonal rejection than those with high self-esteem. However, previous research has found that individual differences in attentional control can attenuate negative reactions to social rejection among vulnerable, low self-esteem individuals. The current fMRI study sought to elucidate the neurobiological substrate of this buffering effect. We hypothesized and found that while looking at scenes of social rejection (vs negative scenes) low self-esteem high attentional control individuals engaged the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), an area of the brain associated with emotional control, more than their low self-esteem low attentional control peers. Furthermore, we found that low self-esteem high attentional control individuals evaluated social rejection as less arousing and less rejecting in a separate behavioral task. Importantly, activation in the rACC fully mediated the relationship between the interaction of self-esteem and attentional control and emotional evaluations, suggesting that the rACC activation underlies the buffering effects of attentional control. Results are discussed in terms of individual differences in emotional vulnerability and protection and by highlighting the role of rACC in emotion regulation

Physiological Correlates of Volunteering

We review research on physiological correlates of volunteering, a neglected but promising research field. Some of these correlates seem to be causal factors influencing volunteering. Volunteers tend to have better physical health, both self-reported and expert-assessed, better mental health, and perform better on cognitive tasks. Research thus far has rarely examined neurological, neurochemical, hormonal, and genetic correlates of volunteering to any significant extent, especially controlling for other factors as potential confounds. Evolutionary theory and behavioral genetic research suggest the importance of such physiological factors in humans. Basically, many aspects of social relationships and social activities have effects on health (e.g., Newman and Roberts 2013; Uchino 2004), as the widely used biopsychosocial (BPS) model suggests (Institute of Medicine 2001). Studies of formal volunteering (FV), charitable giving, and altruistic behavior suggest that physiological characteristics are related to volunteering, including specific genes (such as oxytocin receptor [OXTR] genes, Arginine vasopressin receptor [AVPR] genes, dopamine D4 receptor [DRD4] genes, and 5-HTTLPR). We recommend that future research on physiological factors be extended to non-Western populations, focusing specifically on volunteering, and differentiating between different forms and types of volunteering and civic participation

Attenuating reactivity among low self-esteem individuals: The role of attentional-control

Securing social acceptance and avoiding social rejection are basic human needs. When faced with rejection, individuals low in self-esteem show elevated defensive psychological reactions. However, an emerging literature indicates that individual differences in attentional-control - the ability to direct and maintain attentional focus - might attenuate these reactions. In three studies, the present research further investigated the role attentional-control plays in attenuating reactivity to rejection among low self-esteem individuals. Self-esteem and attentional-control were measured with questionnaires. In Study 1 we found that low self-esteem high attentional-control individuals perceived and construed social rejection in less threatening ways. In Study 2 we found that that low self-esteem high attentional-control individuals showed enhanced BOLD response in brain regions related to emotion regulation (rostral anterior cingulate cortex) when judging the valence of artwork that depicts social rejection. In Study 3, we found that following a real-life rejection experience, rumination is significantly reduced by the second day among low self-esteem high attentional-control people, but not in their low attentional-control counterparts. Consistent with prior research demonstrating the buffering role of attentional-control in self-esteem (Gyurak & Ayduk, 2007), these studies indicate that individuals low in self-esteem but high in attentional-control responded less negatively to social rejection than low self-esteem low attentional-control individuals. Finally, in Study 4, we explored the correlates of attentional-control measured by the Attentional Control Scale (Derryberry & Reed, 2002) used in the first three studies by examining its relationship to self-report measures of emotion and self-regulatory scores, and performance on executive function measures. These results showed that higher scores on the Attentional Control Scale were related to emotion reappraisal ability and conscientiousness. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between higher scores on the Attentional Control Scale and complex executive function measure of Verbal Fluency. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that attentional-control attenuates defensive reactions to social rejection among otherwise vulnerable low self-esteem individuals, possibly via the engagement of behavioral and emotion regulatory mechanisms

Attenuating reactivity among low self-esteem individuals: The role of attentional-control

Securing social acceptance and avoiding social rejection are basic human needs. When faced with rejection, individuals low in self-esteem show elevated defensive psychological reactions. However, an emerging literature indicates that individual differences in attentional-control - the ability to direct and maintain attentional focus - might attenuate these reactions. In three studies, the present research further investigated the role attentional-control plays in attenuating reactivity to rejection among low self-esteem individuals. Self-esteem and attentional-control were measured with questionnaires. In Study 1 we found that low self-esteem high attentional-control individuals perceived and construed social rejection in less threatening ways. In Study 2 we found that that low self-esteem high attentional-control individuals showed enhanced BOLD response in brain regions related to emotion regulation (rostral anterior cingulate cortex) when judging the valence of artwork that depicts social rejection. In Study 3, we found that following a real-life rejection experience, rumination is significantly reduced by the second day among low self-esteem high attentional-control people, but not in their low attentional-control counterparts. Consistent with prior research demonstrating the buffering role of attentional-control in self-esteem (Gyurak & Ayduk, 2007), these studies indicate that individuals low in self-esteem but high in attentional-control responded less negatively to social rejection than low self-esteem low attentional-control individuals. Finally, in Study 4, we explored the correlates of attentional-control measured by the Attentional Control Scale (Derryberry & Reed, 2002) used in the first three studies by examining its relationship to self-report measures of emotion and self-regulatory scores, and performance on executive function measures. These results showed that higher scores on the Attentional Control Scale were related to emotion reappraisal ability and conscientiousness. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between higher scores on the Attentional Control Scale and complex executive function measure of Verbal Fluency. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that attentional-control attenuates defensive reactions to social rejection among otherwise vulnerable low self-esteem individuals, possibly via the engagement of behavioral and emotion regulatory mechanisms