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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News Daily Digest (Unofficial)</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/body-scan-meditation-reduces-food-cravings-in-individuals-prone-to-emotional-eating/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Body scan meditation reduces food cravings in individuals prone to emotional eating</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 30th 2024, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A study of individuals prone to emotional eating showed that a 16-minute body scan meditation procedure reduces negative affect and food cravings. This effect did not depend on participants’ tendency to ruminate or their perceived body boundaries. The research was published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02267-5"><em>Mindfulness</em></a><em>.</em></p>
<p>Emotional eating is the habit of consuming food to cope with emotions rather than physical hunger. It often occurs in response to stress, sadness, boredom, or anxiety. During episodes of emotional eating, people typically choose comfort foods—those high in both fats and sugars—and often overeat them. Over time, this practice can lead to weight gain and even obesity.</p>
<p>Recently, scientists have begun investigating the effects mindfulness-based interventions may have on emotional eating. Mindfulness-based interventions are psychotherapeutic approaches that encourage individuals to focus on the present moment non-judgmentally, helping them manage stress, emotions, and behaviors more effectively. One such practice is body scan meditation, which involves slowly focusing attention on different parts of the body to promote relaxation and awareness of physical sensations.</p>
<p>Study author Huma Shireen and her colleagues sought to explore how a single body scan meditation session would affect negative emotions and food cravings in emotional eaters. They hypothesized that this treatment would reduce both. They further hypothesized that rumination would mediate the effects of this meditation practice and that the magnitude of these effects would depend on psychological factors such as mindfulness, equanimity (a state of mental calmness in the face of challenges), cognitive defusion (the ability to distance oneself from unhelpful thoughts), and interoceptive awareness (the ability to recognize, interpret, and respond to internal bodily sensations).</p>
<p>The study participants were 81 adults classified as emotional eaters based on the results of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Seventy-four percent of them were female. Participants’ average age was 27, and 45% identified as European or North American.</p>
<p>The researchers randomly divided participants into two groups. One group underwent a 16-minute body scan meditation, while the other group listened to a recording of an equally long description of the human musculoskeletal system. Neither the participants nor the researcher working with them was informed of which condition was experimental and which was the control.</p>
<p>Before the intervention, participants completed an interview in which researchers asked them to recall a recent episode of emotional eating. This was intended to induce a negative emotional state in participants.</p>
<p>They also completed assessments of negative affect (using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale), food cravings intensity (using the Desire subscale of the Food Cravings Questionnaire – state version), mindfulness (using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire), equanimity (using the Equanimity Scale), cognitive defusion (using the Drexel Defusion Scale), interoceptive awareness (using the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness-2), perceived body boundaries (using the Perceived Body Boundaries Scale), spatial frames of reference (using the Spatial Frame of Reference Continuum), and rumination (using the Brief State Rumination Inventory). Participants completed the assessments of negative affect and food cravings intensity again after the intervention.</p>
<p>Results showed that participants who completed the body scan meditation session experienced a greater reduction in negative affect and cravings from before to after the treatment compared to the group subjected to the listening task. This effect was independent of any of the psychological factors assessed in the study and was not mediated by any of them.</p>
<p>“This preliminary study suggests that the body scan meditation effectively reduces negative affect and food cravings in individuals with emotional eating. However, further research is needed to delve deeper into potential mediators and moderators influencing this effect,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the potential of mindfulness-based psychotherapeutic interventions. However, the method used to induce negative emotions in the study relied on recalled memories, making it unclear how strong and enduring these emotions were. Additionally, while the study demonstrated effects on negative emotions and food cravings, it does not provide evidence on the practice’s effects on emotional eating itself.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02267-5">A Body Scan Meditation Reduces Negative Affect and Food Cravings in Emotional Eaters: A Randomized Controlled Study of the Effects, Mediators, and Moderators</a>”, was authored by Huma Shireen, Julia Milad, Yair Dor‑Ziderman, and Bärbel Knäuper.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/high-fluid-intelligence-boosts-ability-to-accept-corrected-misinformation/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">High fluid intelligence boosts ability to accept corrected misinformation</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 30th 2024, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-024-00595-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications</a></em> sheds light on why some people are more likely to change their beliefs after being presented with corrections to misinformation. Researchers found that people with higher fluid intelligence, a form of general reasoning ability, were more likely to adjust their attitudes after receiving corrective information. Interestingly, an individual’s motivation to think deeply—what psychologists call “need for cognition”—had little effect on attitude change. This suggests that the ability to reason through new information is more influential than simply being motivated to engage with it.</p>
<p>The rise of misinformation, particularly online, has posed serious challenges for societies aiming to foster well-informed public discourse. In recent years, efforts to combat misinformation have often focused on fact-checking and correction strategies, but not all individuals respond to corrections in the same way. Understanding why some people adjust their beliefs while others do not could help improve debunking strategies.</p>
<p>The study’s authors wanted to explore whether personal characteristics like fluid intelligence (the ability to think and reason quickly and abstractly) or need for cognition (the desire to engage in effortful thinking) could predict who is more likely to update their attitudes in response to corrected information.</p>
<p>“The spread of misinformation is one of the key challenges for contemporary societies. Against this background, it seems important to understand what makes individuals fall for misinformation and what we can do about it,” said study author <a href="https://www.mcm.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/kp/team/dr-fabian-hutmacher/">Fabian Hutmacher</a>, a lecturer at the University of Würzburg.</p>
<p>The researchers conducted two online experiments, which were designed to simulate real-world misinformation correction scenarios, with a focus on minimizing pre-existing biases by choosing a neutral topic.</p>
<p>In the first experiment, the researchers recruited 401 participants through various online platforms. After applying exclusion criteria for inattention, incomplete responses, or self-reported low diligence, they finalized a sample of 355 participants aged 17 to 67, most of whom were university students.</p>
<p>Participants were divided into two groups: the experimental group, which received misinformation on a fictional topic — trust-based working hours — and a control group, which received a neutral, factual version of the same topic. Both groups read a news article about a company’s experiment with flexible working hours, but only the experimental group received misinformation suggesting that the project had negative consequences, like financial losses. Following this, the experimental group read a correction message that debunked the misinformation, presented as an independent fact-check that clarified the misinformation and reframed the project as generally positive.</p>
<p>The researchers measured participants’ attitudes toward trust-based working hours both before and after the correction message. Fluid intelligence was measured using a deductive reasoning test that involved analyzing logical conclusions, while need for cognition was assessed with a short survey where participants rated statements indicating their preference for complex or intellectually engaging tasks.</p>
<p>For the second experiment, the researchers aimed to expand and refine their findings from the first study by using a larger and more diverse sample. They recruited 795 participants from an online participant pool, Prolific, and applied similar exclusion criteria, ultimately resulting in a final sample of 725 participants.</p>
<p>The procedure in Study 2 was similar to Study 1, with participants again divided into experimental and control groups. The misinformation content, the neutral content, and the correction message were consistent with those used in the first study, ensuring comparability between the experiments. However, researchers made refinements to the measures of fluid intelligence and need for cognition. In this study, they used a longer, more reliable 16-item scale to measure need for cognition and standardized the fluid intelligence test items across participants to enhance the consistency and robustness of these measurements.</p>
<p>Across both experiments, the researchers found that individuals with higher fluid intelligence were more likely to adjust their attitudes after receiving a corrective message. The higher an individual’s fluid intelligence, the more effective they were at understanding and applying the corrective message to their initial beliefs.</p>
<p>“A common strategy for countering misinformation is correcting and fact-checking false information,” Hutmacher told PsyPost. “It has repeatedly been shown that a correction message diminishes but not always fully eliminates the effects of previously presented misinformation. We demonstrated that people with higher fluid intelligence, that is, people with a better general reasoning ability, are better at adjusting their attitude in response to the correction of misinformation.”</p>
<p>“Reversely put, this means that integrating a correction message with a previously encountered piece of misinformation can be challenging for individuals. From a practical perspective, this implies that it is important to communicate correction messages in a way that is accessible to a broad audience.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, need for cognition did not have a significant impact on the extent to which participants changed their attitudes in response to corrective information. Even among individuals with a high need for cognition—those who generally enjoy and actively engage in thinking—the presence of misinformation seemed to persist in their attitudes similarly to those with lower need for cognition.</p>
<p>“We did not only investigate whether fluid intelligence affects the way individuals react to the correction of misinformation,” Hutmacher said. “We also checked whether an individual’s need for cognition, that is, an individual’s willingness to engage in effortful thinking, plays a role in this context. However, we did not find any evidence that need for cognition is a significant contributing factor when it comes to the correction of misinformation.”</p>
<p>The sheds light on how certain cognitive trait may impact our ability to accept corrections and reduce the influence of misinformation. But, as with all research, there are some caveats. The misinformation used in the study was neutral, potentially making it easier for participants to accept the correction. In real-world contexts, however, misinformation often pertains to politically charged or personally significant issues. The authors suggest that future research should investigate how fluid intelligence and need for cognition influence responses to corrections on more controversial topics.</p>
<p>“When studying misinformation, one needs to present participants misinformation on a certain topic,” Hutmacher explained. “We presented our participants misinformation on the topic of trust-based working time. However, it would be important to extend our findings to more contested and more politicized topics such as climate change. Having a better understanding of what makes people fall for misinformation will hopefully help us to design more effective countermeasures.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-024-00595-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fluid intelligence but not need for cognition is associated with attitude change in response to the correction of misinformation</a>,” was authored by Fabian Hutmacher, Markus Appel, Benjamin Schätzlein, and Christoph Mengelkamp.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-research-on-female-video-game-characters-uncovers-a-surprising-twist/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">New research on female video game characters uncovers a surprising twist</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 30th 2024, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>Can a strong female character who is also highly sexualized inspire positive perceptions from players? Not necessarily, according to a new study in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502241279625"><em>Communication Research</em></a>. Researchers found that while strength in female video game characters might signal capability, it doesn’t counterbalance the negative impact of sexualization. But in a surprising twist, female participants—despite generally disliking highly sexualized characters—were more likely to choose these characters when given the option to play as one.</p>
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<p>The study sheds light on why, even in today’s gaming landscape, character design matters—and how different types of interactions, from watching to playing, shape player perceptions. A character’s sex appeal and strength both play a role in how players perceive them, but these perceptions shift depending on whether players are simply watching or actively engaging with the character.</p>
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<h3>Background: Why Care About Sexualization in Video Games?</h3>
<p>The portrayal of female characters in video games has long been a topic of debate. Critics argue that many games excessively emphasize sexual appeal in female characters, potentially reinforcing objectifying views that prioritize appearance over other qualities.</p>
<p>Some researchers, however, suggest that the frequent portrayal of female characters as strong and capable might counterbalance the negative impacts of sexual objectification. The study’s authors aimed to understand if such strength cues might actually mitigate negative impressions of sexualized female characters. They also wanted to explore how the nature of interaction—whether players actively control a character or just observe them onscreen—affects these perceptions.</p>
<p>“I think it’s important to understand how gender socialization and prejudice like sexism inform video game development and player experiences,” said study author <a href="https://teresa-lynch.com/">Teresa Lynch</a>, an assistant professor of communication technology at <a href="https://comm.osu.edu/people/lynch.659">The Ohio State University</a> and director of the <a href="https://chronoslaboratory.com/">Chronos Laboratory</a>.</p>
<p>“Sexism pervades gaming. For example, game content overwhelmingly features male characters to the exclusion of central female or gender minoritized characters. Games that do feature female or gender minoritized characters often unfavorably stereotype and objectify these groups. In online gaming experiences, men and boys target women, girls, and gender minoritized individuals with sexist and harassing communication.”</p>
<p>“I want to know more about why, when, and how these kinds of outcomes happen. At the same time, many women and girls and people who identify outside of the binary enjoy gaming a great deal. I count myself among them. Understanding why these people enjoy games in spite of (or even because of!) the challenges sexism presents in gaming is fascinating to me. This study is one part of answering those big questions.”</p>
<p>The researchers conducted two controlled experiments to investigate how different design elements influence perceptions of female video game characters. Each experiment used unique character designs created in the fighting game SOULCALIBUR VI, providing participants with a range of female characters that varied systematically in their sexualization and strength cues.</p>
<h3>Experiment 1: The Impact of Viewing Female Characters</h3>
<p>The first experiment included 239 undergraduate students from a communication program, with the majority of participants identifying as female. Ages varied from 18 to 51, though the group was generally younger. The researchers created four distinct types of female characters using SOULCALIBUR VI: each character was customized to represent one of four combinations of sexualization and strength—high sexualization with high strength, high sexualization with low strength, low sexualization with high strength, and low sexualization with low strength.</p>
<p>To achieve these variations, the team manipulated the characters’ visual traits. Characters designed with high sexualization had features associated with previous research on sexualized portrayals: larger breasts, lower waist-to-hip ratios, and revealing clothing. Characters with low sexualization cues, on the other hand, displayed more modest proportions and less revealing attire. Strength cues were also manipulated, where high-strength characters were larger, more muscular, and carried bigger weapons. In contrast, low-strength characters had smaller physiques and less imposing weaponry.</p>
<p>Participants watched four pre-recorded video clips, each featuring a different character type engaging in a short combat sequence. After viewing each clip, participants rated the characters across several dimensions, such as perceived sexualization (e.g., if the character’s attire seemed revealing), strength (their perceived physical power), femininity (alignment with traditional feminine traits), and likability (how much participants would enjoy playing as the character). At the end of the viewing session, participants also completed a selection survey, choosing which of the characters they would prefer to play.</p>
<h3>Sex Appeal vs. Strength in Viewing Contexts</h3>
<p>The results showed distinct patterns in how sexualization and strength cues shaped viewers’ impressions of these characters. Characters with high sexualization cues were consistently rated as more sexualized compared to those with low sex appeal. Additionally, characters designed with high strength cues were rated as more formidable, aligning with the study’s expectations.</p>
<p>However, when a character combined high sexualization with high strength, participants perceived her as even more sexualized than characters with high sexualization alone. This outcome indicates that strength cues do not counteract the effects of sexualization; rather, they may amplify it. This pattern aligns with the “fighting fuck-toy” theory, which suggests that strength paired with sex appeal can reinforce objectifying impressions, heightening perceptions of the character as a sexualized object.</p>
<p>The researchers also found that high sexualization was a key factor in perceptions of femininity and character likability. Characters with high sexualization were viewed as more traditionally feminine, yet they were also less liked, particularly by female participants. Strength cues, by contrast, did not independently influence likability, suggesting that the perception of likability may be more influenced by sexualization cues than by physical strength.</p>
<h3>Gender Differences and a Surprising Twist</h3>
<p>Interesting gender-based differences emerged in character preferences. Female participants generally disliked highly sexualized characters but were more likely to choose characters with high femininity traits (typically associated with higher sexualization cues) when given a choice. Male participants, on the other hand, gravitated toward characters that were strong yet less sexualized, indicating different gender-based preferences in the interpretation of character traits.</p>
<p>“I <em>wasn’t</em> surprised by the fact that participants in our studies disliked the sexualized female characters,” Lynch told PsyPost. “I think, especially among younger generations who have grown up with social media and intuitively understand how media perpetuate impossible beauty standards, there’s increasing scrutiny and critique around sexual objectification.”</p>
<p>“That said, I was surprised to see that in our first study women still selected the most sexualized character when asked which character they would choose to play. It’s important to remember that this character was also rated as the most feminine, so it’s possible that women were just selecting the character they most identified with.”</p>
<p>“However, this finding highlight why this research is so important,” Lynch continued. “If women are conflating sexual appeal with femininity, then can they disassociate those two concepts? And, if entertainment media like video games continue to portray female characters by emphasizing sex appeal, how does that shape expectations of women and women’s value in society?”</p>
<h3>Experiment 2: The Impact of Active Control on Impressions of Female Characters</h3>
<p>Building on these findings, the researchers conducted a second experiment to assess whether controlling a character (rather than passively viewing) would affect participants’ perceptions. This experiment involved 438 undergraduate students, following a similar design with the same four character types as in the first experiment. However, instead of watching pre-recorded clips, participants played as one of the four character types in a live, simulated combat session.</p>
<p>Each participant was assigned to one of the character types and played for 10 minutes, aiming to defeat an opponent character. The researchers provided basic instructions on gameplay mechanics and controls before the session began. Following this interaction, participants completed surveys similar to those in the first experiment, with the addition of new measures for warmth and competence. These measures were introduced to assess perceptions of personhood, or how much players might view the character as approachable and capable.</p>
<h3>Impact of Strength and Interactivity in Gameplay</h3>
<p>The second experiment revealed additional insights, particularly around the impact of strength cues when participants actively control the character. Participants rated high-strength characters as less traditionally feminine, a perception that became more pronounced when participants directly controlled the character. This finding suggests that interacting with a formidable character can make players view them as less aligned with stereotypical femininity.</p>
<p>Strength cues also influenced participants’ perceptions of warmth and competence. Characters with high strength were rated as more competent, suggesting an association between physical capability and perceived efficacy. However, these same characters were rated as less warm, indicating that formidable characters may be seen as less friendly or approachable. This finding implies that while physical strength can enhance a character’s perceived capability, it may also create an impression of them as more distant or unapproachable.</p>
<p>Gender differences were again observed in this experiment, specifically around the competence ratings. Female participants viewed high-strength characters as more competent compared to low-strength characters, while this difference was not significant among male participants. This difference suggests that female participants may have a stronger positive response to strength in female characters, perceiving them as more effective or capable.</p>
<h3>Key Takeaway: The Importance of Interactive Media</h3>
<p>The findings highlight “that playing video games positions people with a different orientation to the content on-screen,” Lynch told PsyPost. “It can involve you in a way that simultaneously makes you feel like you’re part of the content and game, that you are the character. So, if you are a character that has attributes that you appreciate and enjoy embodying, then you probably will experience some positive outcomes and interpret the experience similarly.”</p>
<p>“And, because games require you to engage in action, you may find distinct things enjoyable in games compared to less interactive experiences like watching movies. Instead of just seeing a hero defeat a horrible villain on-screen, you feel part of the experience of vanquishing that villain. That can be really awesome.”</p>
<p>“But, if the character has attributes that aren’t so great — maybe they are sexually objectified or portrayed as cute, but helpless — then that stands to diminish you in the same way that the heroic portrayal elevated you,” Lynch said. “Our findings suggest that people are paying more attention to the powerfulness of female characters who they can play as, whereas this factor wasn’t so important when they were just watching the game video. Being able to translate those characteristics of the visual portrayal into actions the player was actually taking shaped the experience.”</p>
<h3>Limitations and Future Directions</h3>
<p>The researchers controlled the participants’ self-reported average weekly time spent playing video games, as prior gaming experience might influence character impressions. The study did, however, have some limitations. The researchers used a single video game genre — fighting games, which typically emphasize physicality and competition. This narrow focus limits the extent to which findings can be applied to other types of games, such as adventure or role-playing games, where character interaction and storylines might influence impressions differently.</p>
<p>“One big point is that we know that other content elements such as backstory and narrative can influence the way that people understand a character’s portrayal,” Lynch noted. “This study didn’t get at that, so it’s possible that if these characters were more fleshed out that would affect the results of the work.”</p>
<p>Going forward, the researchers aim to investigate how prolonged interactions with these types of characters influence players’ longer-term attitudes and beliefs.</p>
<p>“In the long term, my lab group and I are trying to understand longer-term effects of interactions with female characters in games,” Lynch said. “We’re interested in understanding beyond initial impressions and looking at how distinct interactions with characters through story or varying modes of play might disrupt or strengthen effects.”</p>
<p>“We’re also very interested in understanding the positive impact of female characters on players, not just the drawbacks or negative side. People play video games because they like them and find the experiences entertaining, but also because they have meaningful experiences. We’re exploring that side of things because it’s all part of the same question.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00936502241279625">Examining How Sex Appeal Cues and Strength Cues Influence Impressions of Female Video Game Characters</a>,” was authored by Teresa Lynch, Annie Dooley, and Matthew R. Erxleben.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/borderline-personality-disorder-bpd-test-the-borderline-symptom-list/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) Test — the Borderline Symptom List</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 29th 2024, 19:55</div>
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<p><p><a href="https://www.psypost.org/exclusive/mentalhealth/borderline-personality-disorder/">Borderline Personality Disorder</a> (BPD) is a serious mental health condition that disrupts emotional stability, relationships, and a person’s sense of self. Individuals with BPD often experience intense emotional distress, characterized by rapid mood shifts, impulsive behavior, and difficulties in maintaining stable interpersonal connections. Managing these symptoms requires careful assessment, and the Borderline Symptom List (BSL) is a valuable tool for tracking symptom severity over time, helping clinicians and researchers provide more targeted treatments.</p>
<h3>What is Borderline Personality Disorder?</h3>
<p>BPD affects approximately 1.5% of the general population, but it is much more prevalent in psychiatric settings, accounting for up to 20% of hospitalized patients. BPD is often misunderstood and can be confused with other mental health conditions like bipolar disorder, depression, or anxiety. However, unlike these disorders, which may be driven by cyclical mood changes or persistent emotional states, BPD is distinguished by the instability of emotions, relationships, and self-image.</p>
<p>People with BPD may experience overwhelming emotions in response to interpersonal stress, leading to rapid mood shifts, intense fear of abandonment, impulsive actions, and unstable relationships. These symptoms, combined with chronic feelings of emptiness, self-harm tendencies, and suicidal thoughts, make BPD one of the most challenging personality disorders to manage.</p>
<p>While mood disorders like bipolar disorder involve clear periods of mania and depression, the emotional changes in BPD are often linked to interactions with others and can shift quickly from moment to moment. Similarly, though anxiety and depression are common in BPD, they are not the core features of the disorder. BPD is primarily driven by difficulties in managing emotional responses and maintaining consistent relationships and self-perception.</p>
<h3>Diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder</h3>
<p>The initial step in diagnosing BPD usually involves a detailed clinical interview where the clinician assesses the individual’s history, behavior patterns, and emotional responses. Structured clinical interviews like the <em>Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders</em> (DIPD-IV) or the <em>Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders</em> (SCID-II) are commonly used. These interviews are guided by the DSM-5 criteria for BPD, which include:</p>
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<li>Intense, unstable relationships</li>
<li>Unstable self-image</li>
<li>Emotional instability with rapid mood changes</li>
<li>Impulsive behaviors (e.g., substance abuse, reckless spending)</li>
<li>Self-harming or suicidal behaviors</li>
<li>Persistent feelings of emptiness</li>
<li>Fear of abandonment</li>
<li>Intense anger or difficulty controlling anger</li>
<li>Paranoia or dissociative episodes in response to stress</li>
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<p>To be diagnosed with BPD, an individual typically needs to exhibit at least five of these symptoms, which should be pervasive, long-lasting, and significantly impact the person’s quality of life or relationships.</p>
<h3>What is the Borderline Symptom List?</h3>
<p>The Borderline Symptom List (BSL) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure the intensity and frequency of BPD-related symptoms. It was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000098493">initially developed</a> by Martin Bohus, a German researcher and past president of the European Society for the Studies of Personality Disorders, along with his colleagues. Bohus is also the Chair of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at Heidelberg University. The BSL was created in response to the need for more dimensional assessments of BPD symptoms, particularly for tracking changes in symptom severity during treatment.</p>
<p>Though many other tools exist to assess BPD, the BSL stands out for its detailed focus on the patient’s subjective experiences. It evaluates a broad range of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms that are commonly reported by individuals with BPD. These include self-hatred, impulsivity, suicidal thoughts, dissociative symptoms, and intense emotional shifts. The BSL helps clinicians gain a deeper understanding of a patient’s day-to-day struggles with BPD, beyond the diagnostic criteria alone.</p>
<h3>Versions of the Borderline Symptom List</h3>
<p>The BSL exists in multiple versions to cater to different clinical and research needs:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>BSL-95</strong>: The original version, consisting of 95 items, which offers a comprehensive overview of BPD-related symptoms.</li>
<li><strong>BSL-23</strong>: A shorter, 23-item version, which is widely used in clinical settings for its practicality and reliability.</li>
<li><strong>BSL-7</strong>: A brief version with just 7 items, often used in quick assessments and research studies.</li>
</ul>
<p>The BSL-23, in particular, has gained popularity due to its balance of thoroughness and brevity. It asks patients to reflect on the past week and rate how strongly they experienced symptoms such as feeling worthless, self-hatred, and rapid mood swings. Studies have shown that the BSL-23 is highly reliable and valid, distinguishing BPD patients from healthy individuals as well as those with other mental health conditions.</p>
<h3>How the BSL Helps</h3>
<p>The BSL serves several key purposes:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Symptom Monitoring</strong>: By administering the BSL at different points during treatment, clinicians can track changes in a patient’s symptoms and adjust therapeutic approaches accordingly.</li>
<li><strong>Therapy Evaluation</strong>: Treatments like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a widely-used intervention for BPD, have been shown to result in significant reductions in BSL scores. These reductions indicate improvements in the patient’s overall well-being, offering concrete data on the effectiveness of therapy.</li>
<li><strong>Targeted Intervention</strong>: The BSL helps clinicians identify which symptoms are most severe or distressing for the patient, enabling more targeted treatment interventions.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The BSL-23: A Closer Look</h3>
<p>The BSL-23 contains 23 items that capture the core experiences of individuals with BPD, including feelings of self-hatred, impulsivity, dissociation, and suicidal thoughts. Each item is rated on a scale from 0 (“not at all”) to 4 (“very strong”), reflecting the intensity of the symptom over the previous week.</p>
<p>The BSL-23 is valuable in both clinical and research settings, as it allows for a consistent and structured way to assess the impact of BPD on a person’s life. The ability to measure changes in symptom severity over time is particularly useful for evaluating the success of treatments like DBT, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and psychopharmacological interventions.</p>
<div class="frm_forms with_frm_style frm_style_big-text"><div class="frm_form_fields "><fieldset><legend class="frm_screen_reader">Borderline Symptom List 23</legend><h3 class="frm_form_title">Borderline Symptom List 23</h3><div class="frm_fields_container"><div class="frm_form_field frm_html_container form-field">In the questionnaire below you will find a set of difficulties and problems which possibly describe you. As you go through each item, please consider how much each issue affected you over the past week. If you're currently experiencing no particular feelings, answer based on how you think you might have felt. Be honest in your responses. All questions refer specifically to the last week. If your feelings varied throughout the week, provide a rating that reflects your average experience.</div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">It was hard for me to concentrate.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_ent2v_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ent2v-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ent2v-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ent2v-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ent2v-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ent2v-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I felt helpless.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_dj3mb_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dj3mb-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dj3mb-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dj3mb-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dj3mb-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dj3mb-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I was absent-minded and unable to remember what I was actually doing.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_zom0k_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_zom0k-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_zom0k-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_zom0k-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_zom0k-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_zom0k-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I felt disgust.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_ekvl6_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ekvl6-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ekvl6-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ekvl6-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ekvl6-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_ekvl6-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I thought of hurting myself.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_6r5q7_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_6r5q7-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_6r5q7-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_6r5q7-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_6r5q7-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_6r5q7-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I didn’t trust other people.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_e1too_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_e1too-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_e1too-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_e1too-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_e1too-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_e1too-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I didn’t believe in my right to live.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_dctix_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dctix-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dctix-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dctix-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dctix-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_dctix-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I was lonely.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_pl7tm_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_pl7tm-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_pl7tm-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_pl7tm-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_pl7tm-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_pl7tm-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I experienced stressful inner tension.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_y8ms0_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_y8ms0-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_y8ms0-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_y8ms0-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_y8ms0-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_y8ms0-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I had mental images that I was very much afraid of.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_v4aa1_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_v4aa1-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_v4aa1-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_v4aa1-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_v4aa1-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_v4aa1-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I hated myself.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_o7ox3_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_o7ox3-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_o7ox3-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_o7ox3-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_o7ox3-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_o7ox3-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I wanted to punish myself.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_r9uzn_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_r9uzn-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_r9uzn-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_r9uzn-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_r9uzn-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_r9uzn-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I suffered from shame.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_p89mo_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_p89mo-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_p89mo-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_p89mo-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_p89mo-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_p89mo-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">My mood rapidly cycled in terms of anxiety, anger, and depression.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_gk7wd_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_gk7wd-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_gk7wd-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_gk7wd-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_gk7wd-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_gk7wd-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I suffered from voices and noises from inside or outside my head.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_88hp0_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_88hp0-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_88hp0-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_88hp0-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_88hp0-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_88hp0-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">Criticism had a devastating effect on me.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_3t5ko_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_3t5ko-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_3t5ko-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_3t5ko-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_3t5ko-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_3t5ko-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I felt vulnerable.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_mxwb3_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_mxwb3-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_mxwb3-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_mxwb3-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_mxwb3-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_mxwb3-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">The idea of death had a certain fascination for me.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_7sqdu_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_7sqdu-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_7sqdu-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_7sqdu-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_7sqdu-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_7sqdu-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">Everything seemed senseless to me.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_t9dt6_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_t9dt6-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_t9dt6-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_t9dt6-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_t9dt6-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_t9dt6-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I was afraid of losing control.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_se9j8_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_se9j8-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_se9j8-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_se9j8-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_se9j8-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_se9j8-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I felt disgusted by myself.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_tbo9_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_tbo9-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_tbo9-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_tbo9-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_tbo9-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_tbo9-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I felt as if I was far away from myself.<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_lh9u3_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_lh9u3-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_lh9u3-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_lh9u3-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_lh9u3-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_lh9u3-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field frm_required_field frm_top_container vertical_radio frm_display_format_buttons frm_text_align_left"><div class="frm_primary_label">I felt worthless<span class="frm_required" aria-hidden="true">*</span></div><div class="frm_opt_container" aria-labelledby="field_22hz_label" role="radiogroup" aria-required="true"><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_22hz-0"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Not at all</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_22hz-1"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">A little</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_22hz-5"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Rather</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_22hz-3"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Much</div></label></div><div class="frm_radio"><label for="field_22hz-4"> <div class="frm_label_button_container">Very strong</div></label></div></div></div><div class="frm_form_field form-field "><div class="frm_submit frm_flex"><button class="frm_button_submit frm_final_submit" type="submit">Submit</button></div></div><div class="frm__66b2bebc2d2d7"><label for="frm_email_9">If you are human, leave this field blank.</label></div></div></fieldset></div></div>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/racial-bias-in-social-media-connections-crosses-political-lines-study-finds/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Racial bias in social media connections crosses political lines, study finds</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 29th 2024, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09567976241274738" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Psychological Science</a></em> has found that racial minorities face challenges when building connections on social media, and these challenges persist across political affiliations. The researchers conducted a large-scale field experiment on Twitter (also known as X) and observed that users were generally less likely to follow Black accounts back than White accounts, regardless of political orientation. This study highlights the widespread nature of racial discrimination in online interactions.</p>
<p>Racial discrimination is a pressing societal issue, affecting various areas of life from hiring practices to social interactions. However, much of the existing research on racial discrimination in social settings is based on surveys, which may lead participants to answer in socially desirable ways, masking real attitudes.</p>
<p>Recognizing the limitations of survey-based studies, the research team aimed to examine discrimination in a more natural setting. They hypothesized that people might demonstrate bias in subtle, often unconscious ways when there is less pressure to appear unbiased—such as when reciprocating social ties on social media.</p>
<p>The researchers also wanted to explore whether conservative and liberal users differed in their likelihood to reciprocate social ties with accounts of different races, especially given past studies that suggest political differences in racial bias. In doing so, the study sought to reveal real-world behavior in an online context that people frequently use but which hasn’t been deeply studied for these behaviors.</p>
<p>“Various studies using survey-based methods have found that conservatives display greater racial prejudice and discrimination than liberals, with more recent work suggesting that these differences have widened in the past decade,” explained study author Krishnan Nair, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.</p>
<p>“However, survey-based work involving sensitive topics can be plagued by social desirability bias and self-promotional motives. Indeed, racial prejudice and discrimination is widely viewed as socially unacceptable, with this being especially the case on the political left. Accordingly, we wanted to investigate whether the liberal/conservative gap in racial discrimination existed when participants are unaware that they were being observed by others.”</p>
<p>To explore racial discrimination on social media, researchers set up a field experiment on Twitter. They created 18 research accounts that differed based on race (Black or White) and political orientation (liberal/Democrat, conservative/Republican, or neutral). These accounts represented generic male profiles and were designed to look authentic, complete with a small follower base and content consistent with each political leaning. For instance, a conservative account might retweet content from conservative news outlets, while a liberal account might share posts aligned with liberal perspectives.</p>
<p>The study targeted a politically balanced group of Twitter users who were randomly selected based on their engagement with either right-leaning or left-leaning content. These users, totaling nearly 6,000, were not informed they were part of a research study to preserve the naturalness of their behavior.</p>
<p>The central measure was whether Twitter users would follow back the research accounts that followed them. Follow-backs are an everyday way of connecting on Twitter and are largely private, limiting any concern about users’ self-image or social pressure. To ensure that all accounts appeared similarly active and to avoid bias in follow-back probability, researchers adjusted each account’s follower count periodically. They also implemented additional controls to prevent interactions between users in different experimental conditions.</p>
<p>The researchers found that Twitter users were less likely to follow back accounts with Black profile photos than those with White profiles, indicating a bias in forming social ties based on race. This trend was observed across the political spectrum, challenging the notion that racial discrimination on social media varies significantly by political alignment.</p>
<p>Both conservative and liberal Twitter users were found to discriminate similarly, suggesting that racial bias in online tie formation may be a more universal phenomenon than previously thought. In other words, while past survey-based research indicated that conservatives might hold stronger racial biases than liberals, this field experiment did not reveal significant differences in how each group treated Black versus White accounts in a less monitored online setting.</p>
<p>“While there were reasons to expect that the liberal/conservative gap in racial discrimination would be smaller when people are unaware they are being observed, the fact that we detected no differences between the two groups was still somewhat surprising to us,” Nair told PsyPost.</p>
<p>The researchers also tested for any potential “partisan effect.” They hypothesized that people might be more inclined to reciprocate social connections with profiles they assumed to share their political views and that such shared political orientation could moderate racial bias.</p>
<p>However, the data did not support this idea. Both conservatives and liberals showed a similar likelihood to follow back profiles with aligned political views, but this tendency did not reduce or increase their racial biases. Thus, shared political orientation did not play a role in alleviating racial bias in the context of forming social ties on Twitter.</p>
<p>The findings provide evidence “that racial discrimination in private behavior is not restricted to one part of the political spectrum,” Nair said. “It is bipartisan.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, in the study’s additional analysis on users’ blocking behavior, researchers found no significant tendency to block Black accounts compared to White accounts. This pattern suggests that the bias observed in follow-back behavior may be more about whom users choose to connect with rather than whom they actively avoid or disengage from.</p>
<p>The findings shed new light on subtle forms of racial discrimination in social media interactions. But the study has limitations. One limitation is that the findings are primarily relevant to politically engaged Twitter users, as the sample was selected based on engagement with political content. Future research could broaden the sample to capture a wider range of users and explore whether the observed biases persist in other online communities.</p>
<p>Additionally, the study focused exclusively on male profiles. Different racial biases may be at play for female profiles, and exploring gender differences could provide a more comprehensive understanding of discrimination on social media.</p>
<p>“Our research examined the treatment of Black males versus White males,” Nair said. “Thus, we can’t be certain of the extent to which our findings extend to the treatment of women and/or those belonging to other racial groups. To us, these are interesting avenue for future research.”</p>
<p>“I want to continue to study the extent to which liberals/Democrats and conservatives/Republicans are similar or different in their attitudes and behavioral tendencies, and the implications of these differences for understanding behavior in both the business context, and in the context of electoral politics. I also want to thank my co-authors Mohsen Mosleh and Maryam Kouchaki, without whom this project would not have been possible.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976241274738" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Racial Minorities Face Discrimination >From Across the Political Spectrum When Seeking to Form Ties on Social Media: Evidence From a Field Experiment</a>,” was authored by Krishnan Nair, Mohsen Mosleh, and Maryam Kouchaki.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/trumps-immigration-crackdown-didnt-lower-immigrant-crime-rates/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Trump’s immigration crackdown didn’t lower immigrant crime rates</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Oct 29th 2024, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>Did the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement measures reduce immigrant crime rates as promised? A study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests otherwise, revealing that immigrant arrests remained largely unaffected by stricter policies. By analyzing arrest data from California and Texas, states with opposing immigration stances, the researchers found no significant increase or decrease in immigrant crime rates during the first years of Trump’s presidency. The findings have been published in the scientific journal <em><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00111287231218704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crime & Delinquency</a></em>.</p>
<p>The Trump presidency marked a period of heightened immigration control, with policies that prioritized the identification, arrest, and deportation of undocumented immigrants. This policy direction was based on the administration’s argument that tougher immigration enforcement would enhance public safety by reducing crime committed by immigrants. To assess whether these policy changes had any actual impact on crime rates among immigrants, the researchers set out to examine arrest patterns before and during the early years of Trump’s presidency.</p>
<p>“Despite speculation regarding the efficacy of the Trump presidency, which promised stricter immigration enforcement targeting alleged criminal immigrants and the decrease in crime rates among immigrants, surprisingly little research has directly investigated these speculations. This is an important gap given that the purported public safety benefits of immigration enforcement continue to influence public policy today,” the researchers explained.</p>
<p>A unique aspect of this study is its focus on two states with starkly different approaches to federal immigration enforcement: Texas and California. While Texas embraced Trump’s initiatives and worked closely with federal authorities, California resisted, implementing “sanctuary” policies that shielded undocumented immigrants from deportation and restricting cooperation with federal immigration agencies.</p>
<p>This contrast created a natural setting to evaluate the effectiveness of Trump’s policies. If the administration’s approach were effective in reducing crime among immigrants, a notable decrease in arrest rates among immigrants would likely be seen in Texas compared to California.</p>
<p>To examine this question, the research team used comprehensive arrest data from the Texas Computerized Criminal History system and California’s Criminal Offender Record Information program. These databases offered comprehensive arrest records, including demographic details, allowing the researchers to distinguish between immigrant and non-immigrant arrests across various crime categories such as violent offenses, property crimes, drug violations, and traffic-related offenses.</p>
<p>The study period, spanning from 2015 to 2018, was split into two parts: the two years before Trump’s inauguration and the first two years of his presidency. By applying statistical analyses known as “difference-in-differences” and “difference-in-difference-in-differences,” the researchers were able to measure any variations in arrest rates between immigrants and non-immigrants, and between Texas and California over time.</p>
<p>To ensure that any observed effects were not due to other factors, the researchers controlled for factors such as income inequality, racial demographics, structural disadvantage, and seasonal trends. These controls helped isolate the specific impact of Trump’s immigration policies on arrest patterns by accounting for socioeconomic and demographic influences.</p>
<p>The findings showed minimal evidence that Trump’s immigration policies impacted immigrant crime rates in a significant way. Arrest rates for both immigrant and non-immigrant populations remained relatively stable across most crime categories during the study period. For violent crimes, immigrants consistently had lower arrest rates than non-immigrants in both Texas and California, a trend that did not change significantly under Trump’s policies.</p>
<p>Property and traffic offenses showed slight decreases in Texas, but these declines mirrored similar decreases among non-immigrant populations, suggesting they were not likely a direct result of immigration enforcement initiatives. This outcome contradicts the expectation that more aggressive immigration enforcement would deter crime among immigrants or lead to higher arrest rates, particularly for discretionary offenses like traffic violations.</p>
<p>These findings challenge the assumption that stricter immigration enforcement would reduce immigrant crime rates. In fact, the results suggest that immigrant arrest patterns closely followed those of the general population, with minimal influence from state or federal policy shifts during the early Trump administration.</p>
<p>“Regarding research on the impacts of ‘sanctuary’ policies, our results are consistent with research suggestive of a largely null relationship between immigrant protective policies and crime,” the researchers wrote. “That is, in states with markedly different responses to the Trump administration’s immigration policies, we observe virtually no change in immigrant arrests relative to non-immigrants.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287231218704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Did Immigrant Arrest Rates Change During the Trump Administration? Evidence From California and Texas</a>,” was authored by Michael T. Light, Laura Boisten, and Jungmyung Kim.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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