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(https://www.psypost.org/study-finds-people-in-relationships-tend-to-be-happier-than-singles/) Study finds people in relationships tend to be happier than singles
Nov 16th 2024, 08:00

A large-scale cross-cultural study published in (https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-024-00416-0) Evolutionary Psychological Science found that people in relationships, particularly satisfying ones, report higher emotional wellbeing and life satisfaction than singles.
Menelaos Apostolou and colleagues investigated whether single individuals are emotionally better off than those in intimate relationships. Prior research suggests that the presence and quality of intimate relationships substantially (https://www.psypost.org/new-study-examines-the-psychological-benefits-of-long-term-intimate-relationships/) influence emotional health, with negative emotions often tied to involuntary (https://www.psypost.org/large-scale-cross-cultural-study-provides-insights-into-mating-performance-and-singlehood/) singlehood. The current study builds on this, hypothesizing that not all single experiences are equal and that the impact of singlehood on emotional health can vary depending on whether one is voluntarily single, recently separated, or unable to find a partner.
The researchers recruited a diverse sample of 6,338 participants from 12 countries, including China, Egypt, Greece, Japan, Oman, Peru, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey, the UK, and Ukraine. The survey was translated into each country’s primary language, employing a back-translation process for reliability.
Participants were diverse in relationship status, classified as either “in a relationship,” “married,” “involuntarily single” (those who desired a relationship but had difficulty attracting a mate), “voluntarily single” (those who preferred to be single), or “single between relationships” (recently separated and not yet partnered).
Participants completed a multi-part survey measuring life satisfaction, emotional wellbeing, optimism, and meaning in life. The first part of the survey assessed life satisfaction using the five-item Satisfaction with Life Scale, where participants rated items on a seven-point Likert scale.
Emotional wellbeing was evaluated through the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, focusing on emotions experienced in the past few weeks, which included both positive emotions like joviality and self-assurance and negative emotions such as guilt and sadness.
Happiness was gauged by asking participants about their general happiness and the proportion of time they felt in happy, neutral, or unhappy states. Optimism was assessed with a ten-item scale and meaning in life using a ten-item purpose questionnaire.
Participants in relationships completed a separate seven-item scale assessing relationship satisfaction, providing an overview of relationship quality. By categorizing participants’ relationship satisfaction scores, the researchers further divided relationships into “good,” “moderate,” and “bad” quality.
The results revealed a strong link between relationship status and emotional wellbeing, with those in relationships generally reporting higher life satisfaction and positive emotions than singles. Within the spectrum of singlehood, involuntarily single participants experienced the most negative emotions, such as sadness and loneliness, and the lowest levels of positive emotions.
Those who were single by choice or in between relationships reported moderately higher emotional wellbeing than involuntarily single participants but still scored lower than those in relationships.
Married individuals and those in relationships consistently recorded the highest scores for positive emotions and life satisfaction. A closer look at happiness and time spent in happy emotional states also indicated that mated individuals, especially those who were married, experienced higher happiness levels and a greater proportion of time feeling happy compared to singles.
Participants in high-quality relationships (“good” relationship category) reported greater emotional wellbeing and satisfaction than those in moderate or bad relationships. Positive emotions like joviality and self-assurance were most pronounced in individuals with high relationship satisfaction, while negative emotions such as guilt and sadness were more common among those in poor-quality relationships or those who were single.
Furthermore, singles—particularly those who were involuntarily single—reported lower levels of life satisfaction, optimism, and meaning in life compared to those in intimate relationships, with these differences remaining consistent across the various countries in the sample.
The findings suggest that intimate relationships, particularly high-quality ones, contribute significantly to an individual’s emotional wellbeing and life satisfaction across cultural contexts.
One limitation is the cross-sectional nature of the study, which prevents drawing causal conclusions about the impact of relationship status on emotional wellbeing over time.
The research, “(https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-024-00416-0) Emotional Wellbeing and Life Satisfaction of Singles and Mated People Across 12 Nations,” was authored by Menelaos Apostolou, Mark Sullman, Agata Błachnio, Ondřej Burýšek, Ekaterina Bushina, Fran Calvo, William Costello, Mai Helmy, Tetiana Hill, Maria Galatiani Karageorgiou, Yanina Lisun, Denisse Manrique-Millones, Oscar Manrique-Pino, Yohsuke Ohtsubo, Aneta Przepiórka, Orestis Cleanthous Saar, Burcu Tekeş, Andrew G. Thomas, Yan Wang, and Sílvia Font-Mayolas.

(https://www.psypost.org/the-neuroscience-of-placebo-analgesia-brain-pathway-explains-how-expectations-reduce-pain/) The neuroscience of placebo analgesia: Brain pathway explains how expectations reduce pain
Nov 16th 2024, 06:00

A new study has identified a specific brain pathway that could explain how positive expectations of relief reduce pain, even without actual medication. Researchers discovered a circuit connecting the anterior cingulate cortex, brainstem, and cerebellum that activates when mice expect and experience pain relief, mimicking the placebo effect in humans. This discovery, published in (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07816-z) Nature, sheds light on the biological basis of placebo analgesia, potentially paving the way for new pain management approaches.
Pain is a deeply personal and subjective experience that can be influenced by psychological factors like expectations. Placebo analgesia, where a person’s belief in relief reduces pain, is a prime example of this phenomenon. This effect has been widely studied, as it plays a crucial role in medical practice and clinical trials.
Despite its importance, the biological mechanisms behind placebo analgesia remain largely unknown. Previous imaging studies in humans revealed that certain brain regions, like the anterior cingulate cortex, are active during placebo analgesia, but the precise cellular and circuit-level interactions responsible for this effect were unclear.
The researchers aimed to address this gap using advanced methods in neuroscience. By studying mice, they hoped to gain a detailed understanding of the neural pathways involved, which could eventually inform strategies for leveraging the placebo effect in clinical settings.
“Placebo analgesia reveals the human brain’s natural ability to modulate pain. For pain physicians and scientists, harnessing this inherent power for pain management is a compelling goal, especially given the dual crises of chronic pain and the opioid epidemic in the United States,” said study author (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chong-chen-567736176/) Chong Chen, a postdoctoral researcher in the (https://www.scherrerlab.com/) Scherrer Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
The researchers developed a mouse model to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying placebo analgesia, where the expectation of relief reduces pain perception. To achieve this, they designed a seven-day experiment that included three phases: habituation, conditioning, and post-conditioning testing. The setup featured two distinct chambers, each with different visual cues.
During the habituation phase, mice explored both chambers freely, with both set to a neutral, non-painful temperature of 30°C. This established baseline behaviors, such as how much time the mice spent in each chamber. In the conditioning phase, one chamber was heated to 48°C, a temperature that causes discomfort, while the other chamber remained at 30°C.
Over the course of three days, the mice learned to associate the second chamber with relief from the noxious heat of the first. On the final day, both chambers were set to 48°C, allowing researchers to assess whether the mice’s expectation of relief altered their pain responses despite the equal temperature.
To analyze the brain activity underlying these behaviors, the researchers used advanced neuroscience tools. Calcium imaging allowed them to observe real-time activity in specific neurons during the experiment. Optogenetics enabled them to selectively activate or suppress neural circuits using light. Single-cell RNA sequencing and electrophysiological recordings provided detailed information about the types of neurons and their connectivity.
The researchers identified a neural pathway that links the anterior cingulate cortex (a region associated with pain processing and expectation) to the pontine nuclei (a region within the brainstem) and the cerebellum at the back of the brain. This circuit was highly active when mice expected pain relief, even when no actual relief occurred. The activation of this pathway corresponded with reduced pain-related behaviors (such as paw licking or jumping), demonstrating that the expectation alone was sufficient to decrease the perception of pain.
Chen was surprised to find that “the pontine nuclei and its main output, the cerebellum, traditionally considered regions responsible for motor function, also contribute to placebo pain relief.”
Neurons in this pathway exhibited enhanced activity as the mice underwent conditioning. Specifically, neurons projecting from the anterior cingulate cortex to the pons showed progressively increased calcium signaling, reflecting heightened engagement of this circuit. This activity persisted into the testing phase, supporting the role of learned expectations in modifying pain perception.
The findings also implicated the brain’s endogenous opioid system in placebo analgesia. Administering naloxone, a drug that blocks opioid receptors, abolished the pain-relieving effects observed in the conditioned mice. This confirmed that the pathway relies on the brain’s natural pain-relief mechanisms. Additionally, optogenetic manipulation provided further evidence of the pathway’s importance. Silencing the connection between the anterior cingulate cortex and the pons reduced the analgesic effects, while stimulating it enhanced them.
At the synaptic level, the researchers observed increased synaptic plasticity in the neurons involved in this pathway. This means that the connections between these neurons became stronger as the mice learned to associate one chamber with relief. This plasticity was a key factor in maintaining the placebo-like effect.
“Placebo analgesia is real!” Chen told PsyPost. “Our study shows that the placebo effect can provide genuine pain relief, making it a valuable tool rather than something to avoid. With the right mindset, we can harness this effect for better outcomes.”
While the findings are promising, the study was conducted in mice, and it remains unclear how directly the results apply to humans. Human brains are more complex, and factors like culture, personal experiences, and cognitive abilities can influence placebo effects in ways that may not be mirrored in mice. Additionally, the study focused primarily on acute pain, leaving questions about whether this pathway plays a similar role in chronic pain conditions.
“Our long-term goals are to fully uncover the neural mechanisms underlying placebo analgesia and to develop strategies that leverage the placebo effect to improve human well-being,” Chen explained.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07816-z) Neural circuit basis of placebo pain relief,” was authored by Chong Chen, Jesse K. Niehaus, Fatih Dinc, Karen L. Huang, Alexander L. Barnette, Adrien Tassou, S. Andrew Shuster, Lihua Wang, Andrew Lemire, Vilas Menon, Kimberly Ritola, Adam W. Hantman, Hongkui Zeng, Mark J. Schnitzer, and Grégory Scherrer.

(https://www.psypost.org/incel-forums-reveal-persistent-widespread-misogyny-regardless-of-user-engagement/) Incel forums reveal persistent, widespread misogyny regardless of user engagement
Nov 15th 2024, 14:00

According to a study published in (https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231176777) New Media & Society, misogynistic language is pervasive within online communities of involuntarily celibate men (incels), with more than 80% of threads containing misogynistic terms.
Michael Halpin and colleagues examined how members of the online incel community express misogyny. This community, composed mostly of men who identify as unable to find romantic partners, shares a belief that their romantic rejection stems from systemic discrimination based on physical appearance, or “lookism.” This perspective has fueled discourse that promotes hostility toward women and dismisses gender equality, often through “black pill” ideology, which argues that incels are condemned to remain alone due to their physical traits.
This research builds on previous findings that incels participate in a hybrid form of masculinity by embracing both hegemonic and subordinate traits. Rather than simply adopting a victim identity, incels tend to position themselves as “failed men” who weaponize their perceived rejection to justify hostility against women.
The researchers collected and analyzed data from one of the largest incel discussion boards, (http://incels.is) incels.is, covering posts between November 2017 and April 2021. This dataset included nearly 3.7 million comments from a total of 8,130 unique participants. Using web scraping software, the research team extracted all public posts within the primary discussion section of the site, capturing each post’s content, thread title, user identification, and the order of comments within threads.
The authors focused on assessing the prevalence and nature of misogynistic language, particularly as participants interacted and commented over time.
To categorize the language, they developed a glossary of misogynistic terms, informed by terms commonly used on the forum, incel-specific lexicons, and other misogyny tracking sources like (https://hatebase.org/) Hatebase. The misogynistic terms were divided into categories based on type, such as “racist misogyny,” “benevolent sexism,” and “pariah femininities.” Variations of a particularly high-volume term, “foid,” (shorthand for “(https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Femoid) femoid”) was categorized separately, as it represents an in-group incel term used to dehumanize women.
To compare the use of these derogatory terms with more neutral terms for women, like “woman” or “women,” the research team coded neutral references as a distinct category, enabling a side-by-side assessment of misogynistic versus non-misogynistic language.
The study revealed that misogynistic language permeates the discourse within incels.is. Misogynistic terms were used almost one million times across all posts, equating to 17.3% of all comments and 82.3% of threads, meaning the vast majority of conversations on this platform contained at least one derogatory reference to women. Participants overwhelmingly favored misogynistic language, using it 2.4 times more frequently than neutral descriptors for women. This pattern extended to individual post histories, with 81.2% of participants using at least one misogynistic term and 67.7% of participants using neutral terms.
Misogyny within the incel community was also racialized. Among all misogynistic terms, 33,000 instances fell under “racist misogyny,” specifically targeting women of color with slurs and language that framed them as sexual objects. Terms such as “Stacy” and “Becky,” derogatory labels for white women, were also frequent, appearing 41,000 times in total.
Further analysis suggested that the majority of users arrived with misogynistic attitudes rather than developing these beliefs through forum participation, as there was no increase in misogynistic language over time with increased engagement.
The study also highlighted that hostile sexism, or overt aggression toward women, dominated discourse, with participants using terms associated with hostile sexism more than those reflecting benevolent sexism, such as “girl.”
One limitation is that the study could not capture the full context of each term’s use.
Overall, this research shows that misogynistic attitudes are widespread in incel communities and further suggests that community members enter with established biases rather than becoming radicalized over time.
The research, “(https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231176777) Men who hate women: The misogyny of involuntarily celibate men”, was authored by Michael Halpin, Norann Richard, Kayla Preston, Meghan Gosse, and Finlay Maguire.

(https://www.psypost.org/female-competition-stress-linked-to-disordered-eating-across-the-lifespan/) Female competition stress linked to disordered eating across the lifespan
Nov 15th 2024, 12:00

Does rivalry among women influence eating habits? New research published in (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-024-00246-1) Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology suggests it might. According to the study, stress from female competition for status and male attention is linked to disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Surprisingly, while this connection weakened with age, it persisted in women beyond menopause, challenging common assumptions that social competition is mainly a young woman’s concern.
While cultural and media influences on body image and eating behaviors have been widely studied, researchers wanted to examine how stress from competition with other women for status and male attention might uniquely impact eating behaviors. Unlike previous studies that focus primarily on cultural ideals, this research sought to understand if competition stress among women is an important social factor contributing to disordered eating behaviors across different age groups.
Evolutionary theories suggest that intrasexual competition among women could have adaptive roots, such as delaying reproduction when social stress is high. This perspective posits that female competition in areas like physical appearance and social status might have once served a beneficial purpose but now, in a modern context, may drive unhealthy behaviors like restrictive dieting or binge eating.
“Years ago when I was a postdoctoral researcher with Charles Crawford, I did research on factors influencing disordered eating. It was a time when there was a lot of attention being paid to anorexia in the media in particular and we were looking at the idea that reproductive suppression might be a factor,” explained study author (https://www.redlands.edu/faculty-and-staff-directory/psychology/catherine-salmon) Catherine Salmon, a professor of psychology at the University of Redlands.
“Linda Mealey had also suggested that female suppression of competitors might be part of the phenomenon and so we looked at the role of female competition, male attention, social support, a variety of factors and part of that was developing the Female‑Female Competition Stress test (FCST) for an adolescent population, as that was were most of the research on disordered eating was focused.”
“This most recent study was about extending the measure to look at it in an older female population — my co-author, Jessica Hehman, is interested in across the lifespan effects and the effect of menopause on female competition.”
The researchers conducted two studies to examine the relationship between female competition stress and disordered eating behaviors. In the first study, they recruited 103 young adult college women aged 18 to 22, asking them to complete a series of surveys measuring various factors.
Participants answered questions designed to capture the level of stress they felt from competing with other women, particularly regarding social status and physical appearance. To assess disordered eating tendencies, they completed the Eating Attitudes Test, a widely used questionnaire that gauges attitudes toward food and body image, focusing on behaviors like dieting preoccupation, binge eating, and purging.
The researchers analyzed the data from these surveys to determine whether competition stress was associated with higher levels of disordered eating. They found that women who reported more stress from competing with other women tended to have more disordered eating attitudes and behaviors.
Specifically, competition stress accounted for around 26% of the variance in disordered eating attitudes and a smaller but still notable 4% in disordered eating behaviors. This means that, although other factors certainly contribute to these behaviors, competition stress plays a measurable role in disordered eating among young adult women.
The second study expanded the sample to include 295 women aged 30 and older. This older group was recruited from the general population, and participants were asked about their current levels of competition stress as well as their stress levels when they were younger. They also completed similar assessments of disordered eating behaviors. Additionally, the researchers collected information on participants’ menopausal and marital status to see how life stages might affect competition stress and eating behaviors.
The results from the older sample offered additional insights. Female competition stress was still associated with disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, though the strength of the link was somewhat weaker than in the younger group. Interestingly, while the researchers had hypothesized that competition stress might decrease with age, they found that it didn’t disappear and was actually elevated among postmenopausal women.
“We expected that disordered eating attitudes would decrease with age, and they did, but they did not disappear,” Salmon told PsyPost. “In addition, female competition stress scores were elevated in postmenopausal women.”
The findings suggest that some women may continue to feel competition stress well into later life, potentially due to social or personal factors that were not directly measured in this study. Additionally, marital status played a role: single women reported higher levels of competition stress than married women, but marital status was not a significant predictor of disordered eating behaviors.
The research indicates “that female competition is not just among younger women (à la ‘Mean Girls’) but that it occurs across the lifespan and is influenced by individual differences,” Salmon explained. “This means that the stress of such competition in terms of influencing eating behavior/attitudes toward eating is not just confined to reproductive-age women, some post-reproductive women may be vulnerable as well.”
As with any research, there are limitations to these findings. The data also came exclusively from the United States, so the findings might not generalize to other cultures with different social dynamics. Future research could expand this line of study by including more diverse populations, such as non-Western cultures or males, and by investigating additional factors that might protect individuals from or make them more susceptible to competition stress and disordered eating. Understanding these elements could pave the way for more tailored support and treatment options for those affected by eating disorders.
“There was still a lot of unexplained variance in the FCST scores, so we need future work to include additional variables that may be relevant,” Salmon said.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-024-00246-1) The Female Competition Stress Test: Effects on Disordered Eating Beyond Adolescence,” was published September 7, 2024.

(https://www.psypost.org/ketamine-study-unearths-surprising-insights-into-ptsd-emotion-regulation-and-dissociation/) Ketamine study unearths surprising insights into PTSD, emotion regulation, and dissociation
Nov 15th 2024, 10:00

A recent study on individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggests that dissociation may not stem from excessive emotional suppression, as previously thought. The study, published in (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-023-06479-4) Psychopharmacology, explored how ketamine—a drug known to induce dissociative symptoms—affects brain connectivity between regions involved in emotion processing.
Surprisingly, administering ketamine did not increase resting-state functional connectivity between the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a brain region central to regulating emotional responses. This finding challenges the assumption that dissociation arises from heightened emotional control (emotion overmodulation) and suggests that alternative mechanisms may be involved.
Dissociation is a psychological state in which a person experiences a disconnection from their thoughts, feelings, memories, or sense of identity. It is believed to act as a defense mechanism in response to trauma or overwhelming stress, allowing the mind to separate from painful experiences.
Common forms of dissociation include depersonalization (feeling detached from one’s body) and derealization (feeling detached from one’s surroundings). In severe cases, dissociation can lead to memory gaps or a fragmented sense of self. Many individuals with dissociation report feeling numb, out of touch, or as if they’re watching themselves from a distance.
In recent decades, scientists have discovered that ketamine, a drug primarily used as an anesthetic, can also produce dissociative symptoms at lower doses. Dissociative symptoms induced by ketamine are similar to those experienced by individuals with mental health disorders such as PTSD.
PTSD is usually characterized by emotion undermodulation (difficulty controlling emotions), which is associated with specific brain activity patterns. However, PTSD with dissociative symptoms is characterized by emotion overmodulation—excessive suppression or control over one’s emotions. Brains of individuals with emotion overmodulation show a resting pattern of neural activity marked by increased functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex (a region responsible for decision-making and emotional regulation) and the amygdala (a region involved in processing emotions).
Study author Sarah K. Danböck and her colleagues wanted to examine the effects of ketamine on resting-state functional connectivity between the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex in individuals with PTSD. They sought to determine whether inducing dissociative symptoms using ketamine would increase functional connectivity between these regions, indicating emotion overmodulation. Functional connectivity refers to the level of communication between two brain regions.
The study involved 26 adults with PTSD, who were not currently engaged in trauma-focused therapy. Participants were randomly divided into two groups: one group received a ketamine infusion (0.5 mg per kg over 40 minutes) while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and the other received an infusion of midazolam while undergoing the same neuroimaging procedure. Midazolam, a fast-acting medication, is commonly used for anxiety relief, sedation, or sleep induction before medical procedures.
Contrary to researchers’ expectations, ketamine did not increase resting-state functional connectivity between the mPFC and amygdala. In fact, there was a noticeable decrease in connectivity between these regions in participants who received ketamine compared to those who received midazolam. This reduction in connectivity was most pronounced between the 10- and 20-minute mark of the infusion, suggesting that ketamine may actually disrupt rather than enhance the fronto-limbic communication thought to underlie emotion overmodulation.
Given that increased connectivity between the mPFC and amygdala during rest is often considered an indicator of emotion overmodulation (or heightened emotional control), the absence of such an increase alongside ketamine-induced dissociative symptoms suggests that dissociation may not necessarily be related to excessive emotional suppression. Instead, the findings imply that dissociation might sometimes be accompanied by deficient emotion regulation, where the brain shows a weakened capacity to manage emotional responses.
“Altogether, our findings suggest that dissociation may not necessarily include downregulation of negative emotions mediated by fronto-limbic hyperconnectivity (emotion overmodulation). Instead, it might, in some instances, also include deficient emotion regulation mediated by fronto-limbic hypoconnectivity,” the study authors concluded.
The study adds to scientific understanding of the neural basis of dissociative symptoms. However, it is important to note that the research involved a very small group of participants. Because of this, only very strong effects would be detected, and the study might have missed other effects that were not strong enough to register in this small sample. Further research is needed to explore dissociation’s underlying mechanisms across different contexts and to refine treatments for PTSD patients with dissociative symptoms.
The paper, “(https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-023-06479-4) Effects of a dissociative drug on fronto‑limbic resting‑state functional connectivity in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled pilot study,” was authored by Sarah K. Danböck, Or Duek, Ziv Ben‑Zion, Nachshon Korem, Shelley L. Amen, Ben Kelmendi, Frank H. Wilhelm, Ifat Levy, and Ilan Harpaz‑Rotem.

Forwarded by:
Michael Reeder LCPC
Baltimore, MD

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