The Social Consequences of Absolute Moral Proclamations

Across six studies (N = 3348), we find that people prefer targets who make absolute proclamations (i.e. It is never okay for people to lie ) over targets who make ambiguous proclamations ( It is sometimes okay for people to lie ), even when both targets tell equivalent lies. Preferences for absolutism stem from the belief that moral proclamations send a true signal about moral character--they are not cheap talk. Therefore, absolute proclamations signal moral character, despite also signaling hypocrisy. This research sheds light on the consequences of absolute proclamations and identifies circumstances in which hypocrisy is preferred over consistency

Coccidioidomycosis as a Common Cause of Community-acquired Pneumonia

The early manifestations of coccidioidomycosis (valley fever) are similar to those of other causes of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Without specific etiologic testing, the true frequency of valley fever may be underestimated by public health statistics. Therefore, we conducted a prospective observational study of adults with recent onset of a lower respiratory tract syndrome. Valley fever was serologically confirmed in 16 (29%) of 55 persons (95% confidence interval 16%–44%). Antimicrobial medications were used in 81% of persons with valley fever. Symptomatic differences at the time of enrollment had insufficient predictive value for valley fever to guide clinicians without specific laboratory tests. Thus, valley fever is a common cause of CAP after exposure in a disease-endemic region. If CAP develops in persons who travel or reside in Coccidioides-endemic regions, diagnostic evaluation should routinely include laboratory evaluation for this organism

Disrupted Thalamus White Matter Anatomy and Posterior Default Mode Network Effective Connectivity in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and its prodromal state amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) are characterized by widespread abnormalities in inter-areal white matter fiber pathways and parallel disruption of default mode network (DMN) resting state functional and effective connectivity. In healthy subjects, DMN and task positive network interaction are modulated by the thalamus suggesting that abnormal task-based DMN deactivation in aMCI may be a consequence of impaired thalamo-cortical white matter circuitry. Thus, this article uses a multimodal approach to assess white matter integrity between thalamus and DMN components and associated effective connectivity in healthy controls (HCs) relative to aMCI patients. Twenty-six HC and 20 older adults with aMCI underwent structural, functional and diffusion MRI scanning using the high angular resolution diffusion-weighted acquisition protocol. The DMN of each subject was identified using independent component analysis (ICA) and resting state effective connectivity was calculated between thalamus and DMN nodes. White matter integrity changes between thalamus and DMN were investigated with constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD) tractography. Significant structural deficits in thalamic white matter projection fibers to posterior DMN components posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and lateral inferior parietal lobe (IPL) were identified together with significantly reduced effective connectivity from left thalamus to left IPL. Crucially, impaired thalamo-cortical white matter circuitry correlated with memory performance. Disrupted thalamo-cortical structure was accompanied by significant reductions in IPL and PCC cortico-cortical effective connectivity. No structural deficits were found between DMN nodes. Abnormal posterior DMN activity may be driven by changes in thalamic white matter connectivity; a view supported by the close anatomical and functional association of thalamic nuclei effected by AD pathology and the posterior DMN nodes. We conclude that dysfunctional posterior DMN activity in aMCI is consistent with disrupted cortico-thalamo-cortical processing and thalamic-based dissemination of hippocampal disease agents to cortical hubs

Characteristics of HIV-1 Discordant Couples Enrolled in a Trial of HSV-2 Suppression to Reduce HIV-1 Transmission: The Partners Study

Background: The Partners HSV-2/HIV-1 Transmission Study (Partners Study) is a phase III, placebo-controlled trial of daily acyclovir for genital herpes (HSV-2) suppression among HIV-1/HSV-2 co-infected persons to reduce HIV-1 transmission to their HIV-1 susceptible partners, which requires recruitment of HIV-1 serodiscordant heterosexual couples. We describe the baseline characteristics of this cohort. Methods: HIV-1 serodiscordant heterosexual couples, in which the HIV-1 infected partner was HSV-2 seropositive, had a CD4 count ≥250 cells/mcL and was not on antiretroviral therapy, were enrolled at 14 sites in East and Southern Africa. Demographic, behavioral, clinical and laboratory characteristics were assessed. Results: Of the 3408 HIV-1 serodiscordant couples enrolled, 67% of the HIV-1 infected partners were women. Couples had cohabitated for a median of 5 years (range 2–9) with 28% reporting unprotected sex in the month prior to enrollment. Among HIV-1 susceptible participants, 86% of women and 59% of men were HSV-2 seropositive. Other laboratory-diagnosed sexually transmitted infections were uncommon (500 relative to <350, respectively, p<0.001). Conclusions: The Partners Study successfully enrolled a cohort of 3408 heterosexual HIV-1 serodiscordant couples in Africa at high risk for HIV-1 transmission. Follow-up of this cohort will evaluate the efficacy of acyclovir for HSV-2 suppression in preventing HIV-1 transmission and provide insights into biological and behavioral factors determining heterosexual HIV-1 transmission. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0019451

Flexible Fairness: How Context Shapes Social Preferences

Fairness influences social interactions from infancy to adulthood. However, the ways in which people conceive of fairness differs across ages and contexts. In this dissertation, I explore the developmental trajectory of fairness preferences across cultures and examine the impact of various contextual factors – from country to wealth to recipient need - on sharing behaviors and fairness judgments in middle childhood. In Chapter 1, I find that hunger – an aspect of the internal environment – is associated with less sharing of resources but does not change expectations of how others will share. I find no effect of hunger on children’s evaluations of equal and equitable distributions between hungry and full recipients. Children are more likely to endorse equitable distributions as they get older, regardless of their own hunger. In Chapter 2, I also find that children are more likely to endorse equity over equality in third-party distributions as they get older. This age-related trend persists across 13 countries; however, levels of individualism and collectivism within a country – an aspect of the broader social environment - impacts the age at which this shift occurs and the magnitude of the equity preference. In Chapter 3, I examine interactions between the internal and external environment. I consider whether hunger, resource, and income levels interact in three different countries to predict children’s sharing with hungry and full recipients. Children are more likely to share with a hungry over a full recipient as they get older, consistent with the pattern of third-party evaluations in Chapters 1 and 2. Children’s own hunger and income levels do not influence costly sharing in this study, suggesting that children may override their own need in this context, when the recipient is needy, even if they did not do so in Chapter 1, when the recipient was anonymous. Chapters 2 and 3 also highlight variability in the developmental trajectory of fairness preferences across countries. I show that these differences in sharing are not associated with age-related differences in related social cognitive abilities and, instead, suggest that an enhanced awareness of social norms plays an important role in these country-level differences. Taken together, I find that children exhibit flexibility in their conceptions of fairness in middle childhood and argue that heightened sensitivity to social information in the decision context supports mature fairness concerns

Lying is sometimes ethical, but honesty is the best policy: The desire to avoid harmful lies leads to moral preferences for unconditional honesty

This paper includes data, materials, code, and supplemental materials for "Lying is ethical, but honesty is the best policy: The desire to avoid harmful lies leads to moral preferences for unconditional honesty" Abstract: People believe that some lies are ethical, while also claiming that “honesty is the best policy.” In this article, we introduce a theory to explain this apparent inconsistency. Even though people view prosocial lies as ethical, they believe it is more important – and more moral – to avoid harmful lies than to allow prosocial lies. Unconditional honesty (simply telling the truth, without finding out how honesty will affect others) is therefore seen as ethical because it prevents the most unethical actions from occurring (harmful lies), even though it does not optimize every moral decision. We test this theory across five focal experiments and nine supplemental studies. Consistent with our account, we find that communicators who tell the truth without finding out how honesty will affect others are viewed as more ethical, and are trusted more, than communicators who look for information about the social consequences of honesty before communicating. However, the moral preference for unconditional honesty attenuates when it is certain that looking for more information will not lead to harmful lies. Overall, this research provides a holistic understanding of how people think about honesty and suggests that moral rules are valued not because people believe all rule-violations are wrong, but rather, because they believe some violations must be avoided entirely. Note: Data files includes one sheet for every study; they are all in one excel file within "Data" folde

On being honest about dishonesty: The social costs of taking nuanced (but realistic) moral stances.

Despite the well-documented costs of word–deed misalignment, hypocrisy permeates our personal, professional, and political lives. Why? We explore one potential explanation: the costs of moral flexibility can outweigh the costs of hypocrisy, making hypocritical moral absolutism a preferred social strategy to admissions of moral nuance. We study this phenomenon in the context of honesty. Across six studies (total N = 3545), we find that communicators who take flexible honesty stances (“It is sometimes okay to lie”) that align with their behavior are penalized more than hypocritical communicators who take absolute honesty stances (“It is never okay to lie”) that they fail to uphold. Although few people take absolute stances against deception themselves, they are more trusting of communicators who take absolute honesty stances, relative to flexible honesty stances, because they perceive absolute stances as reliable signals of communicators’ likelihood of engaging in future honesty, regardless of inconsistent behavior. Importantly, communicators—including U.S. government officials—also anticipate the costs of flexibility. This research deepens our understanding of the psychology of honesty and helps explain the persistence of hypocrisy in our social world