Where the 'bad' and the 'good' go: A multi-lab direct replication report of Casasanto (2009, Experiment 1).

Casasanto (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 138, 351-367, 2009) conceptualised the body-specificity hypothesis by empirically finding that right-handed people tend to associate a positive valence with the right side and a negative valence with the left side, whilst left-handed people tend to associate a positive valence with the left side and negative valence with the right side. Thus, this was the first paper that showed a body-specific space-valence mapping. These highly influential findings led to a substantial body of research and follow-up studies, which could confirm the original findings on a conceptual level.

Masked distress: The mediated effects of face masks on physical and emotional suffocation.

This study explores the effects of bodily states on emotions based on embodied cognition theories of conceptual metaphor and feelings-as-information theory. Specifically, it investigates how physical suffocation induced by mask-wearing affects perceptions of emotional suffocation related to one's romantic relationship and financial situation. In this quantitative online experiment, we employed a convenience sampling method through a crowdsourcing platform.

When the physical coldness in the viewer's environment leads to identification with a suffering protagonist.

Based on theories of narrative engagement and embodied cognition, we hypothesised that a fit between the psychological state of a protagonist and the physical sensation of the viewer would enhance the subsequent identification with the protagonist, but not para-social relationship with him (seeing the protagonist as a friend). We also hypothesised that identification and a para-social relationship would lead to distinct effects on attitudes related to the narrative. Participants (N = 60) were randomly assigned to either a warmed or cooled room where they watched a movie clip alone in which a suffering protagonist wanted to undergo euthanasia while his close others wanted him to stay alive.

The effect of exposure to thin models and digital modification disclaimers on women's body satisfaction.

This study tests the effectiveness of public health initiatives aimed at reducing the adverse effects of exposure to thin images in advertising on women's body satisfaction. Using an online experiment with 195 Israeli adult women, we test the effects of message factors that are expected to influence body satisfaction-the model's body size, and the presence and size of disclaimers. Compared with advertisements featuring a thin model, exposure to an average sized model was indirectly and positively associated with body size satisfaction, through the perception of the model's body size.

Evaluating the evaluator: The effects of the valence, sequence and target of evaluations on the perception of the evaluator.

People commonly want to be perceived as intelligent, as well as be liked by others. Previous research has demonstrated that people who wish to appear intelligent tend to criticise others, and that criticising others indeed leads to the perception of high intelligence. In the current research we hypothesised and found that this is not the case when (a) the criticism is targeted towards the people who form the impression, and (b) the criticism is targeted towards those with whom the people who form the impression have just interacted.