Why is concealment associated with health and wellbeing? An investigation of potential mechanisms.

Rationale: Many members of stigmatized groups face health and wellbeing deficits relative to their non-stigmatized peers. Ample evidence suggests that one method used by some members of stigmatized groups to manage the stigma they face-concealing their stigmatized identities-may contribute to these health and wellbeing disparities. However, precisely why concealment may contribute to these disparities is less clear.

Identity Concealment May Discourage Health-Seeking Behaviors: Evidence From Sexual-Minority Men During the 2022 Global Mpox Outbreak.

People who conceal their stigmatized identities often experience worse physical health. One possibility for why is that concealment may render certain health-seeking behaviors more difficult. We tested this possibility during the 2022 global mpox outbreak, a public-health emergency that disproportionately affected sexual-minority men.

Which Identities Are Concealable? Individual Differences in Concealability.

Concealment is a common and consequential identity management strategy. But which identities are concealable? In three studies ( = 468; = 4,068), we find substantial individual differences in which identities people experience as concealable. These individual differences in concealability manifest as Person × Identity interactions, such that people experience varying levels of concealability for each of their individual identities.

Satisfying singlehood as a function of age and cohort: Satisfaction with being single increases with age after midlife.

A growing body of research suggests that despite the stereotype of being dissatisfied with their relationship status, there is variability in how single (unpartnered) individuals feel about singlehood. The current research examined how satisfaction with singlehood varies (linearly or nonlinearly) with age. In Study 1, we analyzed five cross-sectional samples of single individuals ( = 3,304; collected in 2020-2021) using an integrative data analysis (IDA) approach.

Interpersonal traits and the neural representations of cognitive control in the prefrontal cortex.

Adaptive interpersonal functioning relies on the effectiveness of behavioral and neural systems involved in cognitive control. Whether different subcomponents of cognitive control and their neural representations are associated with distinctive interpersonal dispositions has yet to be determined. The present study investigated the relationships between prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation associated with two subcomponents of cognitive control and individual differences in interpersonally relevant traits and facets within the Five-Factor Model of personality.

An Exploratory Study of Physiological Linkage Among Strangers.

The present study explores physiological linkage (i.e., any form of statistical interdependence between the physiological signals of interacting partners; PL) using data from 65 same-sex, same ethnicity stranger dyads.

The Ups and Downs of Being Us: Cross-Relationship Comparisons in Daily Life.

Cross-relationship comparisons are an integral part of relationship processes, yet little is known about the impact of these comparisons in daily life. The present research employed a dyadic experience-sampling methodology ( = 78 couples) with end-of-day surveys, end-of-week follow-up, and a 6-month follow-up to examine how individuals make cross-relationship comparisons in daily life, the cumulative impact of these comparisons over time, and the dyadic consequences of such comparisons. Participants made more downward than upward comparisons; however, upward comparisons had a more lasting impact, resulting in decreased satisfaction and optimism, and less positive self-perceptions and partner perceptions, at the end of each day and the week.

Subjective Identity Concealability and the Consequences of Fearing Identity-Based Judgment.

In intergroup contexts, people may fear being judged negatively because of an identity they hold. For some, the prospect of concealment offers an opportunity to attenuate this fear. Therefore, believing an identity is concealable may minimize people's fears of identity-based judgment.

Using multilevel models for the analysis of event-related potentials.

Multilevel modeling (MLM) is becoming increasingly accessible and popular in the analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs). In this article, we review the benefits of MLM for analyzing psychophysiological data, which often contains repeated observations within participants, and introduce some of the decision-making points in the analytic process, including how to set up the data set, specify the model, conduct hypothesis tests, and visualize the model estimates. We highlight how the use of MLM can extend the types of theoretical questions that can be answered using ERPs, including investigations of how ERPs vary meaningfully across trials within a testing session.

When every day is a high school reunion: Social media comparisons and self-esteem.

Although past research has shown that social comparisons made through social media contribute to negative outcomes, little is known about the nature of these comparisons (domains, direction, and extremity), variables that determine comparison outcomes (post valence, perceiver's self-esteem), and how these comparisons differ from those made in other contexts (e.g., text messages, face-to-face interactions).

Author Correction: Social and Physiological Context can Affect the Meaning of Physiological Synchrony.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Social and Physiological Context can Affect the Meaning of Physiological Synchrony.

Survival of many species, from insects and birds to human and non-human mammals, requires synchronized activity. Among humans, synchrony occurs even at the level of autonomic functioning; people interacting often show mutual, simultaneous changes in activity of the sympathetic or parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. Critically, autonomic reactivity predicts many mental states and, when synchronized, may reflect higher-order social processes like affiliation.

The Extended Contact Hypothesis: A Meta-Analysis on 20 Years of Research.

According to the extended contact hypothesis, knowing that in-group members have cross-group friends improves attitudes toward this out-group. This meta-analysis covers the 20 years of research that currently exists on the extended contact hypothesis, and consists of 248 effect sizes from 115 studies. The aggregate relationship between extended contact and intergroup attitudes was r = .

Hormone-Diversity Fit: Collective Testosterone Moderates the Effect of Diversity on Group Performance.

Prior research has found inconsistent effects of diversity on group performance. The present research identifies hormonal factors as a critical moderator of the diversity-performance connection. Integrating the diversity, status, and hormone literatures, we predicted that groups collectively low in testosterone, which orients individuals less toward status competitions and more toward cooperation, would excel with greater group diversity.

Contagious Anxiety: Anxious European Americans Can Transmit Their Physiological Reactivity to African Americans.

During interracial encounters, well-intentioned European Americans sometimes engage in subtle displays of anxiety, which can be interpreted as signs of racial bias by African American partners. In the present research, same-race and cross-race stranger dyads ( N = 123) engaged in getting-acquainted tasks, during which measures of sympathetic nervous system responses (preejection period, PEP) and heart rate variability were continuously collected. PEP scores showed that African American partners had stronger physiological linkage to European American partners who evidenced greater anxiety-greater cortisol reactivity, behavioral tension, and self-reported discomfort-which suggests greater physiological responsiveness to momentary changes in partners' affective states when those partners were anxious.

ExperienceSampler: An open-source scaffold for building smartphone apps for experience sampling.

Experience sampling methods allow researchers to examine phenomena in daily life and provide various advantages that complement traditional laboratory methods. However, existing experience sampling methods may be costly, require constant Internet connectivity, may not be designed specifically for experience sampling studies, or require a custom solution from a computer programming consultant. In this article, we present ExperienceSampler, an open-source scaffold for creating experience-sampling smartphone apps designed for Android and iOS devices.

He said what? Physiological and cognitive responses to imagining and witnessing outgroup racism.

Responses to outgroup racism can have serious implications for the perpetuation of bias, yet research examining this process is rare. The present research investigated self-reported, physiological, and cognitive responses among "experiencers" who witnessed and "forecasters" who imagined a racist comment targeting an outgroup member. Although previous research indicates that experiencers self-reported less distress and chose a racist partner more often than forecasters, the present results explored the possibility that experiencers may actually be distressed in such situation but regulate their initial affective reactions.

Early cognitive decline in older adults better predicts object than scene recognition performance.

There is an ongoing debate regarding the nature of memory deficits that occur in the early stages of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI has been associated with atrophy to regions that process objects, namely perirhinal and lateral entorhinal cortices. However, it is currently unclear whether older adults with early MCI will show memory deficits that are specific to objects, or whether they will also show memory deficits for other stimulus classes, such as scenes.

Collective hormonal profiles predict group performance.

Prior research has shown that an individual's hormonal profile can influence the individual's social standing within a group. We introduce a different construct-a collective hormonal profile-which describes a group's hormonal make-up. We test whether a group's collective hormonal profile is related to its performance.

Ideological reactivity: Political conservatism and brain responsivity to emotional and neutral stimuli.

Conservatives are often thought to have a negativity bias-responding more intensely to negative than positive information. Yet, recent research has found that greater endorsement of conservative beliefs follows from both positive and negative emotion inductions. This suggests that the role of affect in political thought may not be restricted to negative valence, and more attention should be given to how conservatives and liberals respond to a wider range of stimulation.

Predicting Treatment Outcomes from Prefrontal Cortex Activation for Self-Harming Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Preliminary Study.

Self-harm is a potentially lethal symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD) that often improves with dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). While DBT is effective for reducing self-harm in many patients with BPD, a small but significant number of patients either does not improve in treatment or ends treatment prematurely. Accordingly, it is crucial to identify factors that may prospectively predict which patients are most likely to benefit from and remain in treatment.

How can intergroup interaction be bad if intergroup contact is good? Exploring and reconciling an apparent paradox in the science of intergroup relations.

The outcomes of social interactions among members of different groups (e.g., racial groups, political groups, sexual orientation groups) have long been of interest to psychologists.

Errors in Moral Forecasting: Perceptions of Affect Shape the Gap Between Moral Behaviors and Moral Forecasts.

Research in moral decision making has shown that there may not be a one-to-one relationship between peoples' moral forecasts and behaviors. Although past work suggests that physiological arousal may account for part of the behavior-forecasting discrepancy, whether or not perceptions of affect play an important determinant remains unclear. Here, we investigate whether this discrepancy may arise because people fail to anticipate how they will feel in morally significant situations.