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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/young-adults-who-experienced-ghosting-are-more-likely-to-ghost-others/" 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;">Young adults who experience ghosting are more likely to ghost others</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 6th 2025, 10:00</div>
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<p><p>A study of young adults in Romania found that individuals who had experienced being ghosted were more likely to ghost others. Similarly, those who had experienced breadcrumbing were more likely to breadcrumb others. Individuals who reported higher levels of moral disengagement, toxic disinhibition, and psychological distress were also more likely to engage in both ghosting and breadcrumbing. The research was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2025.2459680"><em>Deviant Behavior</em></a>.</p>
<p>In the modern world, romantic relationships often begin online through social media and messaging platforms. While convenient, these forms of communication have given rise to new types of antisocial behavior, including ghosting and breadcrumbing.</p>
<p>Ghosting refers to abruptly cutting off all communication with someone without explanation, typically in a dating or social context. It often leaves the other person feeling confused, hurt, and without closure. Ghosting is considered a passive-avoidant way of ending a relationship without confrontation. Breadcrumbing, in contrast, involves sending intermittent, inconsistent messages or signals of romantic interest to keep someone emotionally engaged without any intention of a real commitment. It fosters false hope and emotional uncertainty. Both behaviors are associated with poor communication skills, low empathy, and, in some cases, manipulative intent.</p>
<p>Study authors Alexandra Cobzeanu and Cornelia Măirean aimed to explore the psychological traits associated with ghosting and breadcrumbing. They hypothesized that people who had previously been ghosted or breadcrumbed would be more likely to engage in those same behaviors themselves. They also expected that higher levels of moral disengagement, toxic disinhibition, rejection sensitivity, and psychological distress would be linked to a greater likelihood of ghosting or breadcrumbing others.</p>
<p>The study included 578 young adults in Romania between the ages of 18 and 27, with an average age of 20. Approximately 72% of participants were women.</p>
<p>Participants completed several psychological assessments, including the Breadcrumbing in Affective-Sexual Relationships Questionnaire to measure breadcrumbing behavior, along with single-item measures for breadcrumbing and ghosting experiences (“How often did you experience breadcrumbing/ghosting?”) and behaviors (“How often did you use ghosting to end a relationship?”). Other instruments included an adapted version of the Propensity to Morally Disengage Scale, the Online Disinhibition Scale (to assess toxic online disinhibition), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) for psychological distress, and a measure of rejection sensitivity.</p>
<p>Moral disengagement refers to the tendency to rationalize unethical behavior in order to avoid guilt or self-censure. Toxic online disinhibition describes a person’s increased likelihood to behave aggressively or inappropriately online due to the anonymity and lack of immediate social consequences. Rejection sensitivity reflects a person’s heightened tendency to anticipate, perceive, and overreact to potential social rejection. Psychological distress encompasses emotional suffering that can interfere with daily life, often marked by symptoms of depression, anxiety, or stress.</p>
<p>The results showed that individuals who had experienced more ghosting were significantly more likely to ghost others. Similarly, the strongest predictor of breadcrumbing behavior was having previously been breadcrumbed. More broadly, those who engaged in ghosting or breadcrumbing reported higher levels of moral disengagement, toxic disinhibition, and psychological distress.</p>
<p>Younger individuals in the sample were slightly more likely to engage in breadcrumbing and reported having been breadcrumbed more often. Rejection sensitivity was only weakly associated with breadcrumbing experiences, suggesting that individuals who were more sensitive to rejection were just slightly more likely to report having been breadcrumbed.</p>
<p>“Results suggested that breadcrumbing, regardless of relationship status, was influenced by breadcrumbing experiences, moral disengagement, toxic disinhibition, and psychological distress. Meanwhile, ghosting behavior was primarily predicted by personal experiences of being ghosted and psychological distress. These findings echo the Cycle of Violence theory, suggesting a potential cycle of negative online behaviors where victims may become perpetrators,” the study authors conclude.</p>
<p>The study sheds light on the psychological underpinnings of two important antisocial online behavior patterns. However, the findings are limited by the narrow age range of the participants. The results may not generalize to older populations or individuals from different cultural or demographic backgrounds.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2025.2459680">Online Fairytales: Breadcrumbing and Ghosting Behavior Among Young Adults,</a>” was authored by Alexandra Cobzeanu and Cornelia Măirean.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/resilience-may-protect-against-psychopathic-traits-in-people-with-childhood-trauma/" 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;">Resilience may protect against psychopathic traits in people with childhood trauma</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 6th 2025, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-66756-001?doi=1" target="_blank">Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy</a></em> has found that resilience plays a key role in moderating the link between childhood trauma and psychopathic traits in adulthood. While past trauma was generally associated with higher levels of psychopathy, individuals who were more resilient showed significantly fewer psychopathic traits than those with lower resilience. These findings suggest that fostering resilience could be a promising direction for prevention and intervention efforts.</p>
<p>Psychopathy is a personality pattern marked by traits like manipulation, callousness, impulsivity, and antisocial behavior. People with high levels of these traits often struggle to form healthy relationships and may pose risks to others or society. Although psychopathy has long been considered largely genetic or biologically determined, researchers have increasingly turned attention toward environmental influences such as childhood trauma.</p>
<p>Previous studies have shown that abuse, neglect, or other early adversities are linked to psychopathy later in life, although the strength of the relationship varies. But most research has focused on the direct association between trauma and psychopathy, without examining whether certain factors might weaken or strengthen that link. The new study aimed to address this gap by testing whether resilience—a person’s ability to recover from stress and adapt to hardship—can lessen the connection between early trauma and adult psychopathic traits.</p>
<p>“The lion’s share of research on psychopathology, especially on the most severe forms, focuses on risk factors while relatively less attention tends to be paid to protective factors,” said study author <a href="https://www.unipg.it/personale/carlo.garofalo/en/" target="_blank">Carlo Garofalo</a> of the University of Perugia.</p>
<p>To investigate this, the researchers recruited 521 adults from the Netherlands, with an average age of 35 years. Participants came from a variety of backgrounds and were recruited by psychology students who were instructed to ensure diversity across age, gender, and education. All participants completed a set of standardized questionnaires that assessed their childhood experiences, current resilience, and levels of psychopathic traits.</p>
<p>Childhood trauma was measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, which includes questions about emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as emotional and physical neglect. Resilience was assessed with the 10-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, which evaluates characteristics like adaptability, persistence, and self-efficacy. Psychopathic traits were measured using two widely accepted frameworks: Hare’s four-factor model, which breaks psychopathy down into interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial dimensions; and the triarchic model, which includes boldness, meanness, and disinhibition.</p>
<p>The researchers found that higher levels of childhood trauma were associated with more severe psychopathic traits, particularly in areas such as callousness, poor emotional control, and antisocial behavior. However, when resilience was taken into account, the strength of these associations changed significantly. For people with low levels of resilience, childhood trauma was strongly linked to psychopathic traits. In contrast, among those with high resilience, the link between trauma and psychopathy was much weaker or even non-existent.</p>
<p>For example, traits like meanness and disinhibition were significantly more likely to emerge in individuals who had experienced trauma and scored low on resilience. Meanness refers to traits like aggressiveness and lack of empathy, while disinhibition involves impulsivity and poor self-regulation. However, when participants scored high on resilience, trauma was no longer a strong predictor of these traits.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the study also examined boldness—a trait marked by social dominance, emotional stability, and fearlessness—which has been the subject of debate within psychopathy research. While boldness is often seen as adaptive in some settings, such as leadership or high-risk occupations, it is still considered part of the broader psychopathy spectrum. The researchers found that boldness was generally associated with higher resilience, suggesting it may reflect a more adaptive form of functioning. </p>
<p>However, the relationship between trauma and boldness was more complex. At high levels of resilience, individuals who had experienced trauma reported lower levels of boldness, suggesting that even this seemingly adaptive trait may not develop in response to adversity in resilient individuals.</p>
<p>These results offer support for the idea that psychopathic traits are not fixed outcomes of early trauma. Instead, how people respond to traumatic experiences may depend on their personal resources, such as resilience. This finding has both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it helps explain why some individuals develop severe personality disturbances following adversity while others do not. Practically, it points toward resilience-building as a potential strategy for reducing the risk of psychopathy in people exposed to trauma.</p>
<p>The study’s findings also highlight the value of examining different dimensions of psychopathy separately. While traits like interpersonal manipulation or affective coldness were influenced by trauma and resilience, boldness showed a distinct pattern. This supports the view that psychopathy is a complex and multidimensional construct, with different traits developing in response to different risk factors.</p>
<p>“Experiencing child maltreatment does represent an important risk factor for developing psychopathology and maladaptive behavior, including the type of behavior that puts individuals at odds with other people and society,” Garofalo told PsyPost. “Yet, there are individual characteristics that make some individual more resilient than others and can buffer the detrimental effects of child maltreatment.”</p>
<p>But the study has some limitations. It relied on self-report data, including retrospective accounts of childhood experiences, which can be subject to memory bias. The study was also cross-sectional, meaning it cannot establish cause and effect. Additionally, the sample was drawn from the general Dutch population, which may limit the generalizability of the results to clinical or forensic populations where psychopathy and trauma are more severe. Future research could explore how resilience can be strengthened and whether these findings extend to populations with higher levels of trauma or psychopathy.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001687" target="_blank">Childhood trauma and psychopathy: The moderating role of resilience</a>,” was authored by Carlo Garofalo, Elisa Delvecchio, Stefan Bogaerts, Martin Sellbom, and Claudia Mazzeschi.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/sensory-issues-in-autism-may-stem-from-co-occurring-emotional-blindness-not-autism-itself/" 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;">Sensory issues in autism may stem from co-occurring emotional blindness, not autism itself</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 6th 2025, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A new twin study published in <em><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-025-03254-1" target="_blank">Translational Psychiatry</a></em> suggests that the sensory sensitivities often seen in autistic individuals may not be caused by autism itself. Instead, these sensory traits appear to be genetically linked to alexithymia—a condition characterized by difficulties in identifying and describing one’s own emotions. After accounting for alexithymia, the researchers found no remaining genetic association between autism and sensory symptoms. These findings challenge long-standing assumptions about the nature of autism and point to the possibility that some hallmark features attributed to the condition may instead arise from overlapping but distinct traits.</p>
<p>Autism spectrum conditions are typically associated with a range of difficulties in social interaction and communication, as well as repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. In recent years, sensory processing issues—such as being overly sensitive to sounds or textures—have been recognized as part of the diagnostic criteria. Yet not all autistic individuals experience these symptoms, and sensory sensitivities are also common in other conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia. This has raised questions about what causes these experiences and whether they are specific to autism.</p>
<p>One possible explanation is that another trait, alexithymia, may be responsible for the sensory challenges commonly seen in autism. Alexithymia affects the way people perceive and process their own emotions, and it is significantly more common in autistic individuals than in the general population. Importantly, alexithymia is also seen across many other mental health conditions. This led the researchers to ask whether the genes that influence alexithymia might also account for the sensory traits attributed to autism.</p>
<p>“Our previous research has suggested a lot of the things that we think are features of autism (lack of empathy, poor recognition of facial expressions, lack of eye contact etc) are not due to autism at all. They are due to a co-occurring condition called alexithymia, which about half of autistic people have but is completely independent of autism itself,” said study author <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/geoffbirdlab/home" target="_blank">Geoffrey Bird</a>, a professor at the University of Oxford and University College London.</p>
<p>“It might be the case that alexithymia is related to atypical interoception (the ability to perceive the state of your body), making it possible that the atypical sensory experiences which affect some of the autistic community might be explained by autism as well.”</p>
<p>To test this idea, the researchers conducted a large twin study using data from the Twins Early Development Study in the United Kingdom. They focused on a sample of 207 twin pairs, including 55 identical pairs and 152 fraternal pairs. One or both twins in each pair either met diagnostic criteria for autism or were matched controls. The researchers used a combination of gold-standard diagnostic interviews and parent-completed questionnaires to assess autism traits, sensory symptoms, and alexithymia.</p>
<p>Sensory symptoms were measured using the Short Sensory Profile, a widely used parent-report tool that evaluates behaviors like sensitivity to noise, touch, or visual stimuli. Alexithymia was assessed using the Observer Alexithymia Scale, specifically focusing on the subscale that captures lack of insight into personal emotions. This aspect of alexithymia was chosen because it is most likely to relate to differences in sensory experience.</p>
<p>Using a method called bivariate twin modeling, the researchers explored how much of the relationship between autism and sensory symptoms could be explained by shared genetic factors, and how much was due to overlapping genetics with alexithymia. Twin studies are particularly useful for teasing apart genetic and environmental contributions because identical twins share nearly all of their genes, while fraternal twins share only about half.</p>
<p>The first set of analyses confirmed that all three traits—autism, sensory symptoms, and alexithymia—were strongly heritable. Autism showed a heritability estimate of about 82 percent, consistent with previous research. Alexithymia was also highly heritable at 84 percent, somewhat higher than past estimates, likely due to differences in how it was measured. Sensory symptoms showed moderate heritability at about 57 percent, with additional contributions from shared and unique environmental factors.</p>
<p>Next, the researchers looked at how these traits were related to one another. As expected, autism was moderately correlated with both alexithymia and sensory symptoms. The correlation between autism and sensory issues was largely genetic in origin. However, when the researchers accounted for alexithymia, the genetic link between autism and sensory symptoms disappeared. This suggests that genes related to alexithymia, not autism, were driving the observed connection between autism and sensory differences.</p>
<p>By contrast, the link between alexithymia and sensory symptoms remained significant even after controlling for autism. Although the overall correlation between alexithymia and sensory sensitivity weakened somewhat after removing the influence of autism, the shared genetic component remained just as strong. This means that alexithymia and sensory sensitivity are genetically related in a way that is independent of autism.</p>
<p>These findings suggest “that the sensory differences due to autism might not be due to autism at all, rather they might be associated with alexithymia,” Bird told PsyPost. “Thus, like a lot of things we previously associated with autism, we might need to update our view of what autism is. Our results suggest it is genes associated with alexithymia, not autism, that cause sensory differences.”</p>
<p>The results also support a broader view of alexithymia as a “transdiagnostic” factor—something that contributes to symptoms across a range of mental health conditions. Because alexithymia is common not only in autism but also in disorders like anxiety, depression, and eating disorders, understanding its role could help researchers and clinicians make sense of overlapping symptoms across diagnoses.</p>
<p>Despite the strength of the findings, the study had limitations. The researchers relied on parent-report measures, which can introduce bias, especially if one parent completed assessments for both twins. There was also some missing data, particularly among families of autistic participants, which may have reduced the ability to detect certain effects. Additionally, only one component of alexithymia was examined, and the measurement scale was slightly altered, which could affect comparisons to previous research.</p>
<p>Another limitation is that the study design did not allow the researchers to fully test whether alexithymia explains the link between autism and sensory symptoms in both directions. For instance, they could not assess whether controlling for the genetic contribution of alexithymia to autism would similarly weaken the autism-sensory link. This means the conclusions, while compelling, remain provisional.</p>
<p>Despite these caveats, the findings prompt a rethinking of how autism is defined and understood. If sensory symptoms are not directly caused by autism, but rather by alexithymia, then the current diagnostic criteria may need to be reconsidered. It may also mean that some individuals are misdiagnosed or that their sensory issues are misunderstood if clinicians do not take alexithymia into account.</p>
<p>Bird said that the next steps include exploring whether alexithymia can be reduced—and whether doing so would improve outcomes for people who experience sensory difficulties. This line of inquiry could have wide-ranging benefits, not just for autistic individuals, but for anyone with alexithymia, regardless of diagnosis.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03254-1" target="_blank">Alexithymia may explain the genetic relationship between autism and sensory sensitivity</a>,” was authored by Isabel Yorke, Jennifer Murphy, Fruhling Rijsdijk, Emma Colvert, Stephanie Lietz, Francesca Happé, and Geoffrey Bird.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/intermittent-fasting-boosts-libido-by-lowering-brain-serotonin/" 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;">Intermittent fasting boosts libido by lowering brain serotonin</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 5th 2025, 20:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2025.03.001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cell Metabolism</a></em> has found that intermittent fasting enhances sexual behavior in aging male mice—not by improving sperm quality or hormone levels, but by shifting brain chemistry. The dietary intervention led to more frequent mating and higher reproductive success in older males by decreasing brain serotonin levels, which in turn disinhibited sexual behavior. The researchers identified a novel biological pathway linking dietary patterns, amino acid availability, and reproductive behavior.</p>
<p>The research team, led by Dan Ehninger of DZNE in Germany and Yu Zhou of Qingdao University in China, originally set out to study the offspring of fasting male mice. But when they noticed that older males on an intermittent fasting regimen were fathering more offspring than their normally fed counterparts, their focus shifted. The surprising discovery prompted a deeper investigation into what might be driving the increased fertility in these aging animals.</p>
<p>The scientists knew that male reproductive health tends to decline with age in both humans and animals. Older males typically show reduced testosterone levels, lower sperm count, and diminished sperm motility. These changes are often accompanied by decreased sexual motivation. In mice, as in humans, libido tends to fade with age, and mating behavior becomes less frequent and less successful. The researchers wanted to find out whether intermittent fasting could offset these declines—and if so, how.</p>
<p>To test this, they divided male C57BL/6J mice into two groups starting at 8 weeks of age. One group had constant access to food (ad libitum), while the other followed an intermittent fasting schedule in which food was available every other day. The researchers monitored these mice as they aged, conducting mating experiments at 8 months (young adults) and again at 24 months (roughly equivalent to an elderly human age).</p>
<p>Among the 24-month-old mice, those on the intermittent fasting regimen were more than twice as likely to sire offspring compared to those who had unrestricted access to food. In contrast, all 8-month-old males—regardless of diet—successfully reproduced. The data suggested that intermittent fasting effectively preserved reproductive success into old age, despite the typical age-related physiological declines.</p>
<p>However, when the researchers looked at traditional measures of reproductive health—such as testis weight, sperm count, sperm motility, and testosterone levels—they found little evidence that intermittent fasting improved these markers. In some cases, the fasting mice even showed slightly worse outcomes. This ruled out the possibility that the improved fertility was due to better sperm or hormonal health.</p>
<p>The answer, they discovered, lay in behavior. In a series of controlled mating trials, older mice that had followed the fasting regimen showed greater sexual activity. They spent more time interacting with females, initiated mounting more quickly, and engaged in more frequent mating. In other words, they were simply more interested in sex.</p>
<p>The researchers turned to neurochemical analyses to understand what might be driving this increase in libido. They measured levels of key neurotransmitters in the brain and found that serotonin levels were elevated in older mice on the standard diet, while those on the intermittent fasting regimen had significantly lower serotonin levels. At the same time, brain dopamine levels—another neurotransmitter associated with motivation—declined with age in all groups and were not influenced by diet.</p>
<p>Serotonin is known to inhibit sexual behavior, and high levels can suppress libido. The researchers hypothesized that intermittent fasting might be reducing serotonin availability in the brain, lifting this inhibitory signal and increasing sexual drive. To test this, they administered 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), a chemical that boosts serotonin production, to the fasted mice. As expected, this reduced their mating activity, confirming that serotonin was acting as a brake on sexual behavior.</p>
<p>But what was causing the drop in serotonin in the fasted mice? The team focused on tryptophan, an amino acid obtained from the diet that serves as a precursor for serotonin. They found that plasma tryptophan levels were lower in the fasting mice, even though these animals consumed more food during feeding periods than the non-fasting mice. Importantly, the researchers observed that intermittent fasting led to increased uptake of tryptophan into peripheral tissues like skeletal muscle, reducing the amount available for serotonin synthesis in the brain.</p>
<p>Further experiments showed that tryptophan levels in the brain were also lower in fasted mice, and that this reduction fully explained the diet-related differences in serotonin. There were no changes in the expression of serotonin-related enzymes or transporters, suggesting that the key factor was simply the availability of tryptophan in the bloodstream and brain.</p>
<p>This mechanism was supported by isotope labeling studies, where fasted mice were fed a tryptophan-rich diet containing a detectable nitrogen isotope. The fasted mice showed greater incorporation of the labeled amino acid into muscle proteins, confirming that more dietary tryptophan was being diverted to peripheral tissues rather than reaching the brain.</p>
<p>Taken together, the findings reveal a clear chain of events: intermittent fasting alters tryptophan metabolism, leading to reduced serotonin synthesis in the brain, which in turn lifts the inhibition on sexual behavior. This behavioral boost compensates for the age-related declines in sperm quality and testosterone, resulting in higher reproductive success.</p>
<p>Although these experiments were conducted in a single strain of lab mice, the results suggest broader implications for understanding the links between diet, brain chemistry, and reproductive behavior. The researchers note that human aging is also associated with reduced libido and that serotonin plays a similar inhibitory role in sexual desire in people. This raises the possibility that dietary interventions like intermittent fasting might help alleviate age-related sexual dysfunction, including conditions such as hypoactive sexual desire disorder.</p>
<p>However, the study also has several limitations. It is not yet clear whether similar effects would be seen in other mouse strains or in humans. The researchers did not test other dietary restriction methods like chronic calorie reduction or time-restricted feeding. They also did not determine the minimum length of time required for the behavioral changes to emerge. Short-term fasting (six weeks) was not sufficient to increase sexual behavior, suggesting that long-term adherence may be necessary.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2025.03.001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intermittent fasting boosts sexual behavior by limiting the central availability of tryptophan and serotonin</a>,” was authored by Kan Xie, Chengfeng Wang, Enzo Scifo, Brandon Pearson, Devon Ryan, Kristin Henzel, Astrid Markert, Kristina Schaaf, Xue Mi, Xin Tian, Jiajia Jia, Meiqin Wang, Stefan Bonn, Manuel Schölling, Christoph Möhl, Daniele Bano, Yu Zhou, and Dan Ehninger.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/verbal-abuse-changes-how-childrens-brains-develop-increasing-risk-of-anxiety-and-depression/" 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;">Verbal abuse changes how children’s brains develop, increasing risk of anxiety and depression</a>
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<p><p>Harsh words can wound – and when directed at children, they can have a lifelong impact.</p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18692174/">Research</a> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20483374/">has shown</a> that when words are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24493840/">routinely used</a> by the adults in their lives to humiliate, shame or control children, they can alter the developing brain. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072916">2023 study</a> of over 20,500 UK adults found that one in five reported having been verbally abused as children.</p>
<p>Definitions of verbal abuse vary, but it is generally characterised by a sustained pattern of behaviour where criticism, threats or rejection of the child leads them to feel routinely belittled, blamed, threatened, frightened or ridiculed. This is not the same as occasionally losing your temper with your children and saying something hurtful in the heat of the moment.</p>
<p>I and colleagues believe this shapes how a child sees the world, others, and themselves. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140673608617067">Exposure to abuse</a>, including verbal abuse, leads to an <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001349">increased risk</a> of anxiety, depression, suicide attempts and drug use in later life.</p>
<p>It has an impact on forming trusting relationships as an adult. Yet despite its devastating consequences, verbal abuse remains largely overlooked in public debate and policy.</p>
<p>Preventing verbal abuse – along with all forms of child abuse and neglect – is more than just a moral imperative. It is essential for healthy brain development and lifelong wellbeing.</p>
<h2>Changes in the brain</h2>
<p>I was among the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/28/being-shouted-at-by-parents-can-alter-childs-brain-experts-tell-uk-mps">experts</a> brought together by Jessica Bondy, founder of the <a href="https://wordsmatter.org">Words Matter</a> charity, in the House of Commons in April 2025 to discuss the prevention of childhood verbal abuse.</p>
<p>As a neuroscientist, I have <a href="https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/8553-eamon-mccrory/about">spent decades</a> using brain imaging to understand how early adversity and trauma, including verbal abuse, can shape a young person’s development. We now know that emotional abuse, including consistently hostile or demeaning language from adults, can <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28295339/">significantly alter</a> the way a child’s brain perceives and reacts to the world.</p>
<p>Several key brain systems are affected. For example, our threat system normally helps us stay safe by detecting danger and triggering a quick response – the well-known “fight or flight” reaction.</p>
<p>But in children subjected to frequent abuse, including verbal abuse, this system <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982211011390?via%3Dihub">becomes hyperactive</a>. Even neutral social cues – a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22258799/">facial expression</a>, or a joke or well-meaning comment – can be misinterpreted as threatening.</p>
<p>Verbal abuse also affects how children form relationships. In healthy development, warm verbal and non-verbal exchanges with caregivers – praise, compliments, thoughtful understanding – help teach children how to establish <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2920349/">secure and healthy</a> relationships. They also help them build self-worth and social confidence.</p>
<p>But verbal abuse, along with other forms of childhood maltreatment, can blunt the brain’s reward system. The brain becomes less responsive to positive experiences.</p>
<p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35926524/">We believe</a> that these brain adaptations can alter how a maltreated child builds their social world. They may help the child survive in an adverse social environment, but over time they accrue long-term costs. It becomes harder to trust others; harder to navigate relationships; harder to believe you are of real value and truly lovable.</p>
<h2>Lifelong consequences</h2>
<p>By adulthood, the risk is that a repeated cycle of interpersonal stress and rupture <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35926524/">is established</a>. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21142355/">Romantic relationships</a> can be destabilised by deep-seated fears of abandonment or rejection.</p>
<p>Those early wounds fold into our sense of self, creating an enduring lens through which the world is perceived. It can be a struggle to feel at ease in one own’s mind, or safe in the mind of another.</p>
<p>In addition to my research work at UCL, I am CEO of <a href="https://www.annafreud.org/">Anna Freud</a>, a charity dedicated to transforming mental health support through evidence-based care, cutting-edge research, professional training and accessible resources. In our clinical work at Anna Freud, we have seen countless young people and adults struggle with the verbal messages they have received growing up.</p>
<p>Harsh language sticks because we are biologically wired to privilege negative and threatening information for our own protection. These verbal wounds underpin so much later anxiety, pain and distress. Adults can spend decades trying to compensate to prove those words wrong.</p>
<p>We need to shine a light on the impact of verbal abuse, helping parents, carers, teachers and all adults in a child’s life understand the power of their words. This does not imply that poor behaviour should go unchecked; children still need clear limits and honest corrective feedback. However, it does mean creating environments – at home, at school, in communities – where children are spoken to with respect, encouragement and care.</p>
<p>Verbal abuse is not an inevitable part of growing up. It is preventable. And the science is clear: ending it is essential to safeguarding healthy brain development and improving life-long mental health outcomes. Society as a whole will benefit, with a new generation more likely to thrive in education and employment.</p>
<p>We need to ensure every child is nurtured by words that build them up, not tear them down.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/255533/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1"><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
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<p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-a-neuroscientist-ive-seen-the-impact-of-harsh-words-on-childrens-brains-we-need-to-prevent-childhood-verbal-abuse-255533">original article</a>.</em></p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/higher-body-roundness-linked-to-sleep-disorders-with-depression-playing-a-mediating-role/" 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;">Higher body roundness linked to sleep disorders, with depression playing a mediating role</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 5th 2025, 16:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in <em><a href="https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-025-06664-z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BMC Psychiatry</a></em> suggests that people with more abdominal body fat are more likely to experience sleep disorders, and this relationship is partly explained by symptoms of depression. The study found that a higher Body Roundness Index—a measure of body shape that reflects fat distribution, especially around the abdomen—was strongly associated with both depression and sleep problems.</p>
<p>Sleep disorders are a widespread public health issue affecting millions of adults. These conditions, which include insomnia, sleep apnea, and other disturbances, not only impair quality of life but are also tied to several physical and mental health problems.</p>
<p>Obesity, in particular, has long been identified as a risk factor for sleep disorders, but most studies have relied on Body Mass Index as the main measure of body fat. While BMI can be a useful screening tool, it does not provide information about fat distribution, which may be a more relevant factor in predicting health outcomes, especially those related to sleep.</p>
<p>The research team focused on the Body Roundness Index, or BRI, because it offers a more precise way to assess fat distribution, especially visceral fat—the type that surrounds internal organs. Visceral fat has been linked to metabolic disturbances, inflammation, and a host of negative health effects. At the same time, depression has been independently associated with both obesity and sleep disorders, leading the researchers to hypothesize that depression may act as a bridge that helps explain why excess fat around the midsection contributes to sleep problems.</p>
<p>To test this idea, the researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a large and ongoing study of health in the United States. They focused on adults aged 20 and older, ultimately including over 32,000 individuals in their analysis after excluding participants with missing data. The dataset included a range of information, such as height, waist circumference, mental health assessments, and self-reported diagnoses of sleep disorders made by health professionals.</p>
<p>Sleep disorder status was determined by asking participants whether a doctor had ever told them they had such a condition. Depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, a widely used clinical tool that asks about symptoms experienced in the previous two weeks. A score of 10 or higher on the questionnaire was used as the cutoff for identifying depression. The researchers also gathered data on a variety of other factors that might influence the results, such as age, sex, race, income, education, smoking status, alcohol use, and chronic health conditions like hypertension or diabetes.</p>
<p>The researchers conducted several statistical analyses to examine how BRI was related to sleep disorders and whether depression explained part of that link. They found that a higher BRI was significantly associated with a greater likelihood of having a sleep disorder. Even after adjusting for other variables, each one-unit increase in BRI was linked to a 13% higher risk of sleep problems. When the researchers divided participants into groups based on their BRI levels, those in the highest group were 50% more likely to report a sleep disorder than those in the lowest group.</p>
<p>Depression also played a notable role. The study found that people with higher BRI scores were more likely to be depressed, and depression was strongly related to the presence of sleep disorders. Mediation analysis showed that depression accounted for about 14% of the total relationship between BRI and sleep disorders. This suggests that while excess abdominal fat directly contributes to sleep problems, part of its impact may work through the psychological effects of depression.</p>
<p>The researchers also found evidence that the relationship between BRI and sleep disorders was not perfectly linear. A J-shaped pattern emerged, with a threshold around a BRI of 3.5. Below that point, higher BRI was actually associated with a slightly lower risk of sleep disorder, but above that point, the risk increased sharply. This finding supports the idea that there may be a critical level of visceral fat beyond which the risk of sleep problems rises significantly.</p>
<p>To further understand the predictive power of BRI, the team compared it to other body measurements like BMI, weight, and waist-to-height ratio. BRI outperformed all other metrics, suggesting it may be especially useful for identifying people at risk of sleep disorders. Subgroup analyses showed that the link between BRI, depression, and sleep disorders held across various groups, including different age ranges, sexes, and racial or socioeconomic backgrounds.</p>
<p>The researchers proposed some possible biological explanations for these links. One major factor is inflammation. Visceral fat is known to produce inflammatory molecules such as interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, which can cross into the brain and interfere with sleep regulation. Hormonal imbalances, like reduced levels of the anti-inflammatory hormone adiponectin and resistance to leptin, a hormone that controls hunger and metabolism, may also contribute to disrupted sleep cycles.</p>
<p>Gut health may be another piece of the puzzle. People with more abdominal fat often experience changes in their gut microbiota, which in turn can affect brain function and sleep. For example, certain bacterial imbalances can increase the production of inflammatory compounds or disrupt neurotransmitters like serotonin and melatonin, both of which play a role in sleep regulation.</p>
<p>The psychological impact of obesity may also feed into the cycle. People with higher levels of visceral fat often experience reduced self-esteem and social stigma, which can contribute to depression. Depression, in turn, is known to disturb sleep by altering circadian rhythms, mood regulation, and the body’s stress-response system. Additionally, certain antidepressant medications are known to cause weight gain, which could further worsen both mood and sleep issues.</p>
<p>Despite its strengths—including a large and nationally representative sample—the study has limitations. Since the research design was cross-sectional, it cannot prove that higher BRI causes sleep disorders, only that the two are associated. Longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the direction of these effects over time. The study also relied on self-reported data for sleep disorders, which could introduce recall bias or underreporting. Future research using clinical sleep assessments or polysomnography would help validate the findings.</p>
<p>Another limitation is that depression was only found to explain part of the relationship between BRI and sleep disorders. Other psychological or physiological factors—such as anxiety, chronic stress, or hormonal disturbances—may also play a role and should be investigated in future studies. In addition, while the findings are relevant to adults in the United States, they may not generalize to populations with different lifestyles, diets, or healthcare systems.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-06664-z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Association between body roundness index and sleep disorder: the mediating role of depression</a>,” was authored by Hongyang Gong and Yunkai Zhao.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/new-study-links-psychological-traits-to-loneliness-and-negative-coping-behaviors-in-young-adults/" 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 study links psychological traits to loneliness and negative coping behaviors in young adults</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 5th 2025, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A new study published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251330561" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Psychological Reports</a></em> has found that certain psychological traits—such as insecure attachment, emotional instability, and unclear self-concept—are strongly associated with loneliness. The research also shows that young adults experiencing loneliness tend to withdraw from social situations, particularly following stressful life events. These findings shed light on the internal psychological factors that may cause loneliness to become chronic and suggest that cognitive-based therapies targeting these traits could be more effective than traditional social interventions.</p>
<p>Loneliness is often described as a mismatch between the social connections a person has and the connections they desire. Although most people experience loneliness occasionally, for some, it becomes a persistent and harmful condition. Social loneliness, in particular, refers to the lack of a broader sense of community or meaningful social group membership. Unlike emotional loneliness, which stems from the absence of a close personal attachment, social loneliness reflects a wider social disconnection.</p>
<p>The researchers conducted the study in response to growing concerns about the rising rates of loneliness, particularly among young adults. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness has been on the rise in Australia, with nearly half of individuals aged 18–22 reporting regular feelings of loneliness. While interventions have typically focused on increasing social contact, this approach has had limited success. Recent perspectives suggest that loneliness, like hunger or sadness, is a normal emotional signal that can become problematic when chronic. This shift has led researchers to investigate the internal traits and coping styles that may cause loneliness to persist over time.</p>
<p>“The study was my honors thesis, and I wanted to explore an important topic and add to the existing body of research,” said study author Mark Facey of Edith Cowan University. “I completed my research in 2023. Leading up to that time, there was not much new research or findings. Most of the seminal research on loneliness and belonging was conducted last century. So, I felt it was either such an aversive topic that it became unpalatable to explore, or it was assumed that there was nothing new. I was therefore hopeful I could add something meaningful to the research base.”</p>
<p>The study examined four key psychological traits: attachment style, emotional regulation (specifically expressive suppression), neuroticism, and self-concept clarity. The researchers also investigated two behavioral coping styles: withdrawal and ignoring. Their aim was to determine which of these factors were linked to higher levels of social loneliness and whether these relationships were influenced by recent stressful events or demographic variables such as gender, income, and relationship status.</p>
<p>The study involved 96 psychology undergraduates, the majority of whom were female and between 18 and 34 years old. Participants completed a battery of validated psychological questionnaires online. These included the UCLA Loneliness Scale to measure loneliness, the Adult Attachment Scale to assess secure and anxious attachment, the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire, the Big Five Inventory for personality traits, the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, and the Behavioral Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Participants also answered questions about recent life events, such as moving to a new location or experiencing a major personal loss.</p>
<p>The results showed that one trait stood out above all others: secure attachment. Individuals with secure attachment styles were less likely to report feelings of social loneliness. In fact, secure attachment alone explained about one-third of the differences in loneliness across participants. On the other hand, people with anxious attachment styles, high levels of neuroticism, and unclear self-concepts were more likely to feel socially lonely. These three traits combined accounted for a substantial portion of the variation in loneliness levels.</p>
<p>In addition to these psychological traits, the researchers found that certain coping behaviors were also linked to loneliness. Specifically, people who frequently withdrew from social situations—either by avoiding others or pulling back emotionally—tended to report higher levels of loneliness.</p>
<p>The tendency to withdraw was especially pronounced in those who had recently experienced significant life changes, such as moving or losing a close relationship. Interestingly, the other negative coping style examined in the study, ignoring (or pretending a problem does not exist), did not significantly predict social loneliness.</p>
<p>The findings suggest that loneliness is not only shaped by a person’s current social circumstances but also by how they manage their emotions and relationships. People who lack a clear sense of self or who suppress their emotions may struggle to form or maintain social connections, while those who feel emotionally vulnerable may avoid social situations altogether, reinforcing their sense of isolation.</p>
<p>“Loneliness has not effectively been treated using external treatments,” Facey told PsyPost. “Typically, in clinical settings, a patient will be directed to expand their social circles; i.e., join a social club or reach out to people they know etc. But these methods are widely regarded as ineffective, because loneliness is not the same as social isolation. A person may be isolated, but not necessarily lonely.”</p>
<p>“Rather, Loneliness appears to rely on internal process, namely; insecurity, expressive suppression (a reluctance to express oneself), and neuroticism (emotional volatility). Further, loneliness was associated with social withdrawal, suggesting that maintaining social interactions are akin to a greater sense of belonging.”</p>
<p>“The final, and most important take-away, is that left untreated, loneliness leads to serious long-term effects including depression, addiction, and suicide. If you have experienced loneliness long-term, don’t delay treatment, and link with a therapist who can effectively deal with the underlying issues.”</p>
<p>The researchers also found that demographic factors such as gender, income, education, and marital status did not significantly moderate the relationship between psychological traits and loneliness. This suggests that social loneliness may be a universal experience across different backgrounds, driven more by internal dispositions than external circumstances. However, the authors acknowledge that their sample, which was heavily skewed toward young adult psychology students, may not fully capture population-level differences.</p>
<p>When it came to coping strategies, the researchers found partial support for the idea that lonely individuals are more likely to adopt negative behaviors. Withdrawal was linked to loneliness, but only when not accounting for both recent life events and moving. This suggests a threshold effect: people may initially withdraw when lonely, but after a certain point, the drive for social connection could push them to reengage. This interpretation aligns with prior research suggesting that loneliness, like hunger, may eventually prompt adaptive behavior.</p>
<p>“I was surprised that, among those participants higher in loneliness, coping by withdrawing socially was associated with loneliness, but not when controlling for recency effects; i.e., moving house and changing life events,” Facey said. “In other words, more lonely individuals would cope by withdrawing or disengaging socially, but not those who moved to a new town or location, separated from their partner, experienced the death of a significant other, or had a child move out of home in the past six months. In these extreme cases, participants tended to engage more, not less, than usual. It’s these quirks, and the specificity of them, that pique my interest in psychology.”</p>
<p>Despite these insights, the study has limitations. Its sample was small and demographically narrow, which limits the generalizability of the findings. The use of self-report measures also raises the possibility of social desirability bias or inaccuracies in self-perception. Additionally, the study focused solely on social loneliness, leaving out emotional loneliness, which may be influenced by different factors. Future research could explore how these two types of loneliness interact across different age groups and life stages.</p>
<p>“While the study was conducted with all due care, and was peer reviewed, all participants were third year psychology undergraduates,” Facey noted. “In addition, there were only 96 participants, which is statistically sound, but not a lot for a quantitative study. Future studies are called upon to verify and build on the findings. ”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251330561" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Determinants of Social Loneliness and Negative Coping Styles of the Socially Lonely</a>,” was authored by Mark A. Facey and Craig P. Speelman.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/self-perceived-physical-attractiveness-linked-to-stronger-materialistic-values/" 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;">Self-perceived physical attractiveness linked to stronger materialistic values</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Jun 5th 2025, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A study conducted in China has found that individuals who perceive themselves as physically attractive tend to be more materialistic—both explicitly and implicitly. The study’s authors suggest this occurs because people who believe they are attractive are more likely to compare themselves with others in terms of abilities, opinions, and social status, which in turn increases their materialistic tendencies. The research was published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113164"><em>Personality and Individual Differences</em></a>.</p>
<p>Materialism is a value orientation that emphasizes the importance of acquiring and possessing material goods. These possessions are often viewed as essential to achieving happiness, success, and social standing. Materialism can be categorized as either explicit or implicit. Explicit materialism refers to consciously held beliefs and values about the significance of wealth and possessions. Individuals high in explicit materialism openly endorse the idea that money and material items bring satisfaction and define personal worth. Implicit materialism, on the other hand, reflects automatic or unconscious associations between material objects and a positive self-image or emotional reward.</p>
<p>Research has shown that implicit and explicit materialism can predict different types of behavior. For example, implicit materialism may influence impulsive or spontaneous spending, whereas explicit materialism is more strongly related to long-term financial goals. Although cultural factors can reinforce materialistic values, excessive materialism has been linked to lower well-being and weaker interpersonal relationships.</p>
<p>Study authors Xiaoyue Zhao and Baoyan Yang sought to explore the relationship between materialism and self-perceived physical attractiveness. They hypothesized that individuals who view themselves as more attractive would also tend to be more materialistic. More specifically, they proposed that those who perceive themselves as attractive are more inclined to engage in social comparison—evaluating themselves against others in terms of abilities, opinions, and status—which contributes to greater materialism. They also predicted that self-affirmation might buffer this relationship. The researchers conducted two separate studies to test their hypotheses.</p>
<p>The first study included 260 college students from three universities in Shandong Province, China. About 44% of the participants were male, and the average age was 20 years. Participants were divided into two groups based on their self-rated physical attractiveness. To reinforce these perceptions, the high-attractiveness group was asked to write about a time when they felt especially attractive, while the low-attractiveness group recalled an event when they felt unattractive.</p>
<p>All participants then completed a series of assessments, including the Self-Perceived Physical Attractiveness Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (to measure mood), the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Scale (to assess social comparison orientation), and two measures of materialism: the Materialism Values Scale and a collage-based technique.</p>
<p>The second study aimed to test whether self-affirmation could weaken the relationship between self-perceived attractiveness and materialism by reducing social comparison orientation. This study involved 820 college students from six universities in the Chinese provinces of Shandong, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan. Sixty-three percent of participants were female.</p>
<p>From this group, the researchers selected the 27% of participants who rated themselves as the most attractive for further analysis. These individuals were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. One group underwent a self-affirmation exercise: they selected their most important personal value from a list and wrote three reasons why it was important to them. The other group completed a devaluation task: they chose their least important value and wrote about why it was unimportant, followed by rating the significance of that value.</p>
<p>Results from the first study showed that individuals who perceived themselves as more attractive were more materialistic and had a stronger orientation toward social comparison. Further analysis suggested that self-perceived physical attractiveness may lead to greater materialism by increasing the tendency to compare oneself with others.</p>
<p>Findings from the second study confirmed that self-affirmation could indeed buffer this effect. In the group where self-affirmation was undermined, social comparison orientation was positively associated with both explicit and implicit materialism—indicating that those prone to comparing themselves to others were also more materialistic. However, in the group where self-affirmation was supported, higher levels of social comparison were actually linked to lower levels of materialism.</p>
<p>“The results indicate that: (1) Self-perceived physical attractiveness significantly and positively predicts both explicit and implicit materialism; (2) Social comparison orientation mediates the impact of self-perceived physical attractiveness on explicit and implicit materialism; (3) Self-affirmation buffers the mediating process through which high self-perceived physical attractiveness influences explicit and implicit materialism via social comparison orientation,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The findings shed light on how self-perceptions of physical attractiveness may influence materialistic values, particularly through the psychological mechanism of social comparison. However, it is important to note that both studies were conducted among Chinese college students. The results may not generalize to other age groups, cultural contexts, or populations.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113164">Beauty and riches: People who think they are attractive are more materialistic, the mediating role of social comparison orientation and the buffering role of self-affirmation,</a>” was authored by Xiaoyue Zhao and Baoyan Yang.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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