The relationship between Hikikomori risk factors and social withdrawal tendencies among emerging adults — An exploratory study of Hikikomori in Singapore

Introduction: Once a localized Japanese phenomenon, Hikikomori-type social withdrawal has since been observed globally in increasing numbers. However, there is a lack of research about Hikikomori in Singapore. Consequently, local variations of Hikikomori may differ from past research in Japan. Drawing on associations found in international and Japanese Hikikomori research, we explored some variables relevant and generalizable to the Singaporean context. Specifically, we examined the relationships between (1) Hikikomori risk factors, (2) social withdrawal tendencies, (3) depression and anxiety, (4) connections with family and friends, and (5) employment status. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey study (N = 416; Mage = 24.90, SDage = 4.79; females = 236, males = 177, undisclosed = 3), participants were provided a Qualtrics link and asked to complete a questionnaire comprising the NHR scale, LSNS-6, DASS-21, ERQ, and HQ-25. Results: We found that (a) Hikikomori risk factors positively correlated with social withdrawal tendencies and depression and anxiety but negatively correlated with support from family and friends, (b) high Hikikomori risk factors predicted high social withdrawal tendencies, (c) support from friends (one of the psychosocial factors) predicted social withdrawal tendencies together with the Hikikomori risk factors, and (d) social withdrawal tendencies moderated the relationship between Hikikomori risk factors and depression among the emerging adults in Singapore. Conclusion: The current research findings serve as a basis for future Hikikomori research in Singapore

Dimensions, Measures, and Contexts in Psychological Investigations of Curiosity: A Scoping Review

The study of curiosity as a construct has led to many conceptualisations, comprising of different dimensions. Due to this, various scales of curiosity have also been developed. Moreover, some researchers have conceived of curiosity as a general trait-like, while others have included contexts, such as the workplace, or education when investigating curiosity. This scoping review aims to scope the extant psychological literature on curiosity in order to better understand how it has been studied, specifically with regard to its dimensions, measures, and contexts. A total of 1194 records were identified, with 245 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. Results suggest that the majority of curiosity research examined curiosity as having multiple dimensions and analysed the dimensions individually, with a deprivation-type curiosity playing the biggest role. The measure most commonly used was the Epistemic Curiosity Scale, which also consisted of a deprivation-type curiosity as one of the dimensions. Findings also implied that curiosity was most studied in the context of the workplace. Supplementary findings included a lack of representation of non-Western countries, as well as needing to cross-validate a recently developed curiosity scale. This scoping review represents a consolidation of the curiosity literature and how it can further prosper

Exploring the Role of Trust, Competence, and Likability in Fostering Workplace Relations

Undergraduate participants (N = 240) learned about the competence (low vs. high) and likability (low vs. high) of a possible working partner and indicated their trust and attraction toward the partner. Results showed that work attraction was higher towards a likable work partner than a competent one, indicating that the effect of likability was superior to that of competence. Furthermore, trust completely mediated the likability-work attraction link but not the competence-work attraction link, indicating that work attraction was due to the partner’s likability via trust activation. Finally, the theoretical implications of mediators for likability and competence are discussed in the present study

The prosocial impact of God concept priming on God believers

The present research examined the effects of an activation of God on prosociality in the presence or absence of a belief in God. In 3 studies, participants were primed with either the word GOD or the nonword GUB. Their intention to volunteer for community work (Study 1), donate their organs upon their death (Study 2), and the length of time in which they immersed their hands in ice-cold water (cold-pressor task) for the sake of charity (Study 3) were measured. In all 3 studies, participants who professed to believe in God showed higher prosocial responses when exposed to the God prime as compared with the non-God prime. However, this effect was not found among participants who professed to be nonbelievers. Furthermore, the results were constant across several different religions (i.e., Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, & Theism). Hence, results suggest that a personal belief in God moderates the priming effect of God on prosociality. Moreover, the importance of increasing specificity of the constructs examined and engaging in replications of priming studies are also discussed

Age-moderated effects of consequence and intent information on punishment: an intuitive prosecutorial interpretation

In responding to wrongdoings, people simultaneously pursue the goals of social control and fairness to the wrongdoer. Social control necessitates stronger weighting of consequences than causes; fairness entails the opposite. The authors hypothesized that the developmental shift from overweighting consequence to overweighting intent when determining levels of punishment illustrates a shift from a default defender of the normative order to a motivated crusader of fairness to the wrongdoer. Thus, punishment should increase slightly for intentional wrongdoings but decrease substantially for accidental wrongdoings as people age. In an experiment on disciplinary action in Singapore, 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds learned about the consequences of and intentions behind wrongdoings by peers and predicted consistency of the same act in the future, assigned blame to the wrongdoers, and recommended punishment for them. Results supported hypotheses derived from a fair-but-biased-yet-correctible model of intuitive prosecutors

Self-transcendence through self-inhibition?: God primes reduce self-accessibility

This article reports 7 studies showing that God primes inhibit self-concept accessibility. Study 1A provided the first supportive evidence using undergraduate samples. Study 1B replicated the findings using working adult participants. Study 2A to 2C showed that the inhibitory effect of the God concept on implicit self-concepts was not due to concepts related to love, power, hope, religion, devil, and father. Study 3 found the same inhibitory effect when the God prime was subliminally presented. Study 4 showed that God concept priming influenced implicit self-representations, but not other types of implicit representations. Finally, a meta-analysis of our findings reveal a large effect of priming. In addition, the effect was consistent across different religious affiliations. These findings provide evidence at the social–cognitive level that activation of God concepts can induce lower self-orientation: a possible mechanism for religious self-transcendence

On the importance of trust in interpersonal attraction from attitude similarity

Trust has been identified as a key factor in relationship development and appreciation of group members. However, trust has not been previously considered as a reason for attitude similarity to result in attraction. Thus, in the current research, the authors investigated trust as a key component of attraction based on attitude similarity. Trust was shown to significantly mediate attitude similarity effects on attraction when measured alone (Experiment 1) and alongside positive affect in the participants (Experiment 2A), respect for the partner (Experiment 2B), or inferred partner's attraction to the participants (Experiment 2C). Trust was also shown to have independent effects on attraction when juxtaposed with all three of the traditional mediators of attitude similarity effects (Experiment 3). Implications of these findings for models of attraction are discussed