What is virtually beautiful is good - On the impact of physiognomic and nonverbal facial features for attributions of attractiveness, social competence and dominance

Heutzutage ist das Thema Attraktivität im Alltag omnipräsent. Dabei nimmt das Gesicht mit seinen physiognomischen und nonverbalen Merkmalen eine besondere Stellung ein. Cunningham (1986) sowie Cunningham et a. (1990) konnten bereits zeigen, dass verschiedene physiognomische Merkmale positiv mit Attraktivität korrelieren. Hinsichtlich des nonverbalen Verhaltens konnte ebenfalls gezeigt werden, dass Lächeln die Attraktivität erhöht (Reis et al., 1990). Durch die bisherigen Methoden war es bisher nicht möglich Aussagen über die Interaktionen physiognomischer und nonverbaler Merkmale und deren relative Wirkung zu generieren. Die Attribution von Attraktivität geht außerdem mit weiteren wünschenswerten Attributionen im Rahmen des what-is-beautiful-is-good Stereotyps einher (Dion, Walster, & Berscheid, 1972), wie sozialer Kompetenz und Dominanz. Diese Assoziationen können weiterhin von der Nationalität der Beurteiler abhängen (Wheeler & Kim, 1997), allerdings sind nur wenige interkulturelle Daten verfügbar. Durch den Einsatz virtueller Figuren als Stimulusmaterial wird es erstmals möglich systematische Kombinationen verschiedener Merkmale zu erzeugen und so Interaktionen aufzudecken. Zusätzlich soll ein Beitrag zur angewandten Forschung zu virtuellen Figuren geleistet werden, indem der Effekt der Ähnlichkeit (Byrne & Nelsen, 1965) und der Vertrautheit (Zajonc, 1965)überprüft werden. Hierzu wurden zwei Online Experimente durchgeführt. In der ersten Studie wurde in einem 2x3x3x3 Faktorendesign das Geschlecht der virtuellen Figur, die Ausprägung der Wangenknochen (eingefallen, mittel, ausgeprägt), die Größe der Augen (klein, mittel, groß) und die Länge des Kinns (kurz, mittel, lang) variiert. Die Versuchspersonen (N =170) bewerteten entweder 27 weibliche oder 27 männliche Figuren hinsichtlich ihrer Attraktivität, sozialen Kompetenz und Dominanz. Teilweise konnten die Ergebnisse aus dem face-to-face Kontext hinsichtlich der Attraktivität repliziert und um weitere Attributionen im Rahmen des what-is-beautiful-is-good Stereotyps ergänzt werden. Die Ergebnisse deuten zudem darauf hin, dass virtuelle Figuren den gleichen Attributionsprozessen unterliegen wie Menschen. Die zweite Studie fokussierte die Aspekte des Vergleichs physiognomischer und nonverbaler Merkmale und der Interkulturalität. In einem 2 (Nationalität der beurteilenden Person) x 2 (Geschlecht der beurteilenden Person) x 2 (Geschlecht der virtuellen Figur) x 2 (lächeln, nicht-lächeln) x 3 (Wangenknochen, Augen, Kinn) Mischdesign, bewerteten 158 Deutsche und 128 Malayen 18 Gesichter (9 lächelnde, 9 nicht-lächelnde) hinsichtlich der gleichen Eigenschaften wie in Studie I. Besonders hervorzuheben sind die Ergebnisse, dass physiognomischen und nonverbalen Merkmale miteinander interagieren und jeweils von unterschiedlicher Bedeutung für die Attribution von Attraktivität, sozialer Kompetenz und Dominanz sind. Außerdem hängen die Attributionen von der Nationalität der Beurteiler ab

Empathische Reaktionen gegenüber einem Roboter

Es ist bereits bekannt, dass Menschen soziale Reaktionen auf Computer und artifizielle Wesen wie virtuelle Agenten zeigen. Auch für die Mensch-Roboter-Interaktion konnten erste Studien zeigen, dass Menschen Verhalten zeigen, das man lediglich in der Mensch-Mensch-Kommunikation erwarten würde. Ob auch empathische Reaktionen gegenüber Robotern gezeigt werden, wurde bislang nicht untersucht. In einem 2x2 laborexperimentellen Design betrachteten die Probanden (N=40) zwei Filme, in denen ein Spielzeugroboter in Dinosaurierform entweder gequält oder gestreichelt wird (Treatmentfaktor 1, within subjects). Der einen Hälfte der Probanden wurde der Roboter vorab vorgestellt und 10 Minuten zum Kennenlernen überlassen, während der anderen Hälfte der Probanden der Roboter vollkommen fremd war (Treatment Faktor 2, between subjects). Nach jedem Video wurde das emotionale Befinden mit Hilfe der PANAS erhoben und die Probanden füllten am Ende einen Fragebogen zur Bewertung des Roboters aus. Nach der Rezeption des Videos, in dem der Roboter gequält wird, fühlten die Probanden sich signifikant schlechter (F(1/39)=26,946; p=.000). Die Bedingungsvariation der vorherigen Interaktion zeigte jedoch keinen Einfluss auf das emotionale Befinden nach der Rezeption des Videos oder die empfundene Empathie. Somit konnte gezeigt werden, dass eine negative Behandlung eines Roboters das eigene Empfinden beeinflusst, dass eine kurzzeitige Interaktion mit dem Roboter das Mitleiden aber nicht verstärkt

Forced Empowerment and the Paradox of Mobile Dating Apps

New women-focused mobile dating apps purport to empower women by having them “make the first move” and disrupt traditional male-dominated dating norms. Drawing on feminist approaches and technological affordances, we examine how heterosexual cisgender women and men experience this “empowerment” and contrast it to other mobile dating app use. We used a multimethod approach to conducting app walkthroughs, focus groups, and interviews to contrast the mobile dating apps, Tinder and Bumble. The findings reveal that perceptions of free choice and action determine empowerment experiences. Our study reveals that the “forced empowerment” on Bumble was still strongly shaped by heterosexual gender norms that encouraged “good” girls and guys to use the app to look for long-term relationships but continue to use Tinder to hook up, despite the popular misogyny on Tinder identified by both men and women in our study. We conclude by discussing the empowerment paradox of dating apps through popular feminism and misogyny

The Advances of Immersive Virtual Reality Interventions for the Enhancement of Stress Management and Relaxation among Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review

The rapid changes in human contacts due to the COVID-19 crisis have not only posed a huge burden on the population’s health but may have also increased the demand for evidence-based psychological programs delivered through digital technology. A systematic review, following the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)” guidelines, was therefore conducted to explore the advances in stress management interventions utilizing VR and suggest up-to-date directions for future practice. The relevant literature was screened and the search resulted in 22,312 records, of which 16 studies were considered for analysis. The Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS) was also employed to assess the quality of the included studies. The results suggest that VR-based interventions can facilitate positive changes in subjective stress levels and stress-related biomarkers. However, special attention should be paid to the development of rigorous VR protocols that embrace natural elements and concepts deriving from traditional treatment approaches, such as cognitive behavioral therapy techniques. Overall, this review aims to empower future researchers to grasp the opportunity that the COVID-19 pandemic generated and utilize digital technologies for strengthening individuals’ mental health. Future projects need to conduct large-scale VR studies to evaluate their effectiveness compared to other mental health interventions

Capturing Interactive Work for Nurses—First Validation of the German IWDS-N as a Multidimensional Measure

The theoretical framework of interactive work provides a multi-dimensional perspective on the interpersonal demands of nurses in nurse–patient interactions. It is defined by four dimensions: emotional labor directed to the self and others, cooperative work, and subjective acting. While the framework stems from qualitative research, the aim of the current study is to translate it into a quantitative scale to enable measurement of the high interpersonal demands that so often remain implicit. For this reason, we conducted an online survey study (N = 157; 130 women, 25 men, 2 divers) among professional nurses in Germany (spring 2021) to test the derived items and subscales concerning interactive work, which resulted in a 4-factor model that was verified with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The survey further captured additional information on established constructs concerning job-related well-being (e.g., burn out, meaningfulness), job characteristics (e.g., work interruptions, time pressure) and individual resources (coping strategies) that are supposed to correlate with interactive work demand scales for nurses (IWDS-N), to determine the quantitative nature of their relations. The results show that the subscales of the IWDS-N have adverse effects on indicators of work-related well-being. Moreover, negative job characteristics, such as time pressure, are positively correlated with subscales of the IWDS-N and are therefore problem-focused coping strategies as an individual resource. The results emphasize that a multidimensional consideration of self-regulatory processes is useful to capture the subtle and complex nature of the interactive work demands of nurses. The current study is the first that developed a quantitative, multi-dimensional measure for interactive work demands, which can help make implicit demands in service work explicit

Being Bullied in Virtual Environments: Experiences and Reactions of Male and Female Students to a Male or Female Oppressor

Bullying is a pressing societal problem. As such, it is important to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in bullying and of resilience factors which might protect victims. Moreover, it is necessary to provide tools that can train potential victims to strengthen their resilience. To facilitate both of these goals, the current study tests a recently developed virtual environment that puts participants in the role of a victim who is being oppressed by a superior. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment (N = 81), we measured the effects of gender of the oppressor and gender of the participant on psychophysiological reactions, subjective experiences and willingness to report the event. The results reveal that even when a male and a female bully show the exact same behavior, the male bully is perceived as more threatening. In terms of gender of the victim, the only difference that emerged was a more pronounced increase in heart rate in males. The results were moderated by the personality factors social gender, neuroticism, and need to belong, while self-esteem did not show any moderating influence

Video_1.mp4

<p>Bullying is a pressing societal problem. As such, it is important to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in bullying and of resilience factors which might protect victims. Moreover, it is necessary to provide tools that can train potential victims to strengthen their resilience. To facilitate both of these goals, the current study tests a recently developed virtual environment that puts participants in the role of a victim who is being oppressed by a superior. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment (N = 81), we measured the effects of gender of the oppressor and gender of the participant on psychophysiological reactions, subjective experiences and willingness to report the event. The results reveal that even when a male and a female bully show the exact same behavior, the male bully is perceived as more threatening. In terms of gender of the victim, the only difference that emerged was a more pronounced increase in heart rate in males. The results were moderated by the personality factors social gender, neuroticism, and need to belong, while self-esteem did not show any moderating influence.</p