Reflecting on existential threats elicits self-reported negative affect but no physiological arousal

There is mixed evidence whether reflecting on an existential threat increases negativeaffect and thereby elicits subjective arousal and physiological activation. Additionally,it is debated whether different existential and non-existential threats elicit differentarousal responses, although systematic comparisons are lacking. The current studyexplored affective, subjective, and physiological arousal responses while comparingseveral existential threats with a non-existential threat and with a control condition.One-hundred-and-seventy-one undergraduate students were randomly allocated toone of four existential threat conditions: mortality salience (MS), freedom restriction,uncontrollability, and uncertainty; or to the non-existential threat condition: socialevaluative threat (SET); or to a control condition (TV salience). Self-reportedpositive/negative affect was measured before and after reflection, while subjectivearousal and physiological activation (electrodermal, cardiovascular, and respiratory)were measured on a high time-scale during baseline and reflection. Results showedlarger increases in self-reported negative affect, as compared to the control condition,for all existential threat conditions, while there were no differences between thecontrol condition and threat conditions regarding positive affect, subjective arousal,skin conductance, respiratory rate, and respiratory sinus arrythmia. There were subtledifferences between existential and non-existential threat conditions, most notably inaffective responses. Correlations showed positive associations between negative affectand subjective arousal and between trait avoidance and subjective arousal. This studyis the first to systematically compare affective, subjective, and physiological changes inarousal due to reflecting on different existential threats, as well as one non-existentialthreat. We showed that, as compared to a control condition, reflecting on threats has alarge impact on negative affect, but no significant impact on positive affect, subjectivearousal, and physiological activation. Social decision makin

Thoughts of Death Modulate Psychophysical and Cortical Responses to Threatening Stimuli

Existential social psychology studies show that awareness of one's eventual death profoundly influences human cognition and behaviour by inducing defensive reactions against end-of-life related anxiety. Much less is known about the impact of reminders of mortality on brain activity. Therefore we explored whether reminders of mortality influence subjective ratings of intensity and threat of auditory and painful thermal stimuli and the associated electroencephalographic activity. Moreover, we explored whether personality and demographics modulate psychophysical and neural changes related to mortality salience (MS). Following MS induction, a specific increase in ratings of intensity and threat was found for both nociceptive and auditory stimuli. While MS did not have any specific effect on nociceptive and auditory evoked potentials, larger amplitude of theta oscillatory activity related to thermal nociceptive activity was found after thoughts of death were induced. MS thus exerted a top-down modulation on theta electroencephalographic oscillatory amplitude, specifically for brain activity triggered by painful thermal stimuli. This effect was higher in participants reporting higher threat perception, suggesting that inducing a death-related mind-set may have an influence on body-defence related somatosensory representations

Exploring the adaptive role of core social motives in perceived societal threats

Societal threats that face the world today seem overpowering, especially for young generations who will need to develop creative solutions. The present study examined the relationships between societal threats and social motives. Social motives function to orient individuals toward the social world and prepare them to engage socially. This adaptive function of social motives may be particularly useful when threats are looming in the environment. We thus expected that perceived societal threats would correlate positively with activation of social motives, especially among individuals with lower self-esteem, who tend to show higher interdependency when threatened. Our cross-cultural samples from Australia, the United States, New Zealand, the Philippines, China (Macao), Malaysia (Sabah), and Austria (N = 1,269) showed evidence to support these expectations. Perceived societal threats correlated positively with all social motives (Belong, Understand, Control, Esteem, and Trust); however, the link was most vital for the Control motive, and especially in the United States and China. In line with our expectations, higher perceived societal threats were associated with more robust social motives, especially among those with low self-esteem. Potential mechanisms through which social motives assist adaptation to societal threats and country-specific contents of threats are discussed

Threat and defense:From anxiety to approach

The social psychological literature on threat and defense is fragmented. Groups of researchers have focused on distinct threats, such as mortality, uncertainty, uncontrollability, or meaninglessness, and have developed separate theoretical frameworks for explaining the observed reactions. In the current chapter, we attempt to integrate old and new research, proposing both a taxonomy of variation and a common motivational process underlying people’s reactions to threats. Following various kinds of threats, people often turn to abstract conceptions of reality—they invest more extremely in belief systems and worldviews, social identities, goals, and ideals. We suggest that there are common motivational processes that underlie the similar reactions to all of these diverse kinds of threats. We propose that (1) all of the threats present people with discrepancies that immediately activate basic neural processes related to anxiety. (2) Some categories of defenses are more proximal and symptom-focused, and result directly from anxious arousal and heightened attentional vigilance associated with anxious states. (3) Other kinds of defenses operate more distally and mute anxiety by activating approach-oriented states. (4) Depending on the salient dispositional and situational affordances, these distal, approach-oriented reactions vary in the extent to which they (a) resolve the original discrepancy or are merely palliative; (b) are concrete or abstract; (c) are personal or social. We present results from social neuroscience and standard social psychological experiments that converge on a general process model of threat and defense. Threat and defense: From anxiety to approach (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261699050_Threat_and_defense_From_anxiety_to_approach [accessed Jan 16 2018]

Social motives of university students in seven countries: Measurement development and validation

A new scale to measure core social motives was developed based on the BUC(K)ET framework (Belong, Understand, Control, Esteem, and Trust). The scale was completed by 1,516 university students from seven countries: Australia, the United States, New Zealand, the Philippines, Malaysia, China (Macao), and Austria. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis supported the scale's full scalar invariance between Australia and the United States and between Australia and Austria. Partial scalar invariance was established for all countries after omitting the Understand motive, suggesting that the remaining four subscales can be used to compare levels of social motives across diverse cultural groups with caution. We further established the scale's construct validity by examining its correlations in the nomological networks involving several individual difference variables. The profile of social motives was remarkably similar across countries and gender groups, although three Asian groups showed higher motives to belong than non-Asian groups, and women showed generally stronger core social motives than men, especially the Belong motive. Implications and possible directions of research are discussed

Variation in oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) polymorphisms is associated with emotional and behavioral reactions to betrayal

Variations in the gene that encodes the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) have been associated with many aspects of social cognition as well as several prosocial behaviors. However, potential associations of OXTR variants with reactions to betrayals of trust while cooperating for mutual benefit have not yet been explored. We examined how variations in 10 single-nucleotide polymorphisms on OXTR were associated with behavior and emotional reactions after a betrayal of trust in an iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma Game. After correction for multiple testing, one haplotype (C-rs9840864, T-rs2268494) was significantly associated with faster retaliation post-betrayal—an association that appeared to be due to this haplotype’s intermediate effect of exacerbating people’s anger after they had been betrayed. Furthermore, a second haplotype (A-rs237887, C-rs2268490) was associated with higher levels of post-betrayal satisfaction, and a third haplotype (G-rs237887, C-rs2268490) was associated with lower levels of post-betrayal satisfaction