A situational test of the health belief model: How perceived susceptibility mediates the effects of the environment on behavioral intentions.

Objective: Existing evidence regarding the role of perceived susceptibility in shaping preventative health behavior is mixed for the Health Belief Model (HBM). To clarify whether and under which conditions perceived susceptibility affects preventative behavior, this study aims to better understand how situational environmental factors affect perceived susceptibility, thereby shaping health decisions, and whether this mediation relationship is conditioned by other HBM cognitions, namely perceived benefits and severity.

Methods: Therefore, we employed a scenario-based experiment in a large, representative sample of the German population (N = 4,802) in April 2022.

Examining double standards in layoff preferences and expectations for gender, age, and ethnicity when violating the social norm of vaccination.

Whether vaccination refusal is perceived as a social norm violation that affects layoff decisions has not been tested. Also unknown is whether ascribed low-status groups are subject to double standards when they violate norms, experiencing stronger sanctions in layoff preferences and expectations, and whether work performance attenuates such sanctioning. Therefore, we study layoff preferences and expectations using a discrete choice experiment within a large representative online survey in Germany (N = 12,136).

A brief measure of complete subjective well-being in Germany: A population-based validation of a German version of the Flourish Index (FI) and the Secure Flourish Index (SFI).

Measuring subjective well-being in a multidimensional, valid, reliable, and parsimonious way is important for both social science research and social policy. Here, we present an efficient measure of distinct domains of subjective well-being and overall flourishing. The Flourishing Index (FI) consists of five sub-domains: 1.

Stigmatization in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey experiment using attribution theory and the familiarity hypothesis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a global health crisis, leading to stigmatization and discriminatory behaviors against people who have contracted or are suspected of having contracted the virus. Yet the causes of stigmatization in the context of COVID-19 remain only partially understood. Using attribution theory, we examine to what extent attributes of a fictitious person affect the formation of stigmatizing attitudes towards this person, and whether suspected COVID-19 infection (vs.

Cooperative behavior in the workplace: Empirical evidence from the agent-deed-consequences model of moral judgment.

Introduction: Moral judgment is of critical importance in the work context because of its implicit or explicit omnipresence in a wide range of work-place practices. The moral aspects of actual behaviors, intentions, and consequences represent areas of deep preoccupation, as exemplified in current corporate social responsibility programs, yet there remain ongoing debates on the best understanding of how such aspects of morality (behaviors, intentions, and consequences) interact. The ADC Model of moral judgment integrates the theoretical insights of three major moral theories (virtue ethics, deontology, and consequentialism) into a single model, which explains how moral judgment occurs in parallel evaluation processes of three different components: the character of a person (Agent-component); their actions (Deed-component); and the consequences brought about in the situation (Consequences-component).

Brain-computer interfaces, disability, and the stigma of refusal: A factorial vignette study.

As brain-computer interfaces are promoted as assistive devices, some researchers worry that this promise to "restore" individuals worsens stigma toward disabled people and fosters unrealistic expectations. In three web-based survey experiments with vignettes, we tested how refusing a brain-computer interface in the context of disability affects cognitive (blame), emotional (anger), and behavioral (coercion) stigmatizing attitudes (Experiment 1,  = 222) and whether the effect of a refusal is affected by the level of brain-computer interface functioning (Experiment 2,  = 620) or the risk of malfunctioning (Experiment 3,  = 620). We found that refusing a brain-computer interface increased blame and anger, while brain-computer interface functioning did change the effect of a refusal.

Public attitudes towards neurotechnology: Findings from two experiments concerning Brain Stimulation Devices (BSDs) and Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs).

This study contributes to the emerging literature on public perceptions of neurotechnological devices (NTDs) in their medical and non-medical applications, depending on their invasiveness, framing effects, and interindividual differences related to personal needs and values. We conducted two web-based between-subject experiments (2×2×2) using a representative, nation-wide sample of the adult population in Germany. Using vignettes describing how two NTDs, brain stimulation devices (BSDs; NExperiment 1 = 1,090) and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs; NExperiment 2 = 1,089), function, we randomly varied the purpose (treatment vs.

Parents' Perceptions on the Debated Parenting Practice of Cognitive Enhancement in Healthy Children and Adolescents.

Unlabelled: First evidence shows that some parents engage in the health-endangering practice of (mis-)using prescription drugs to boost their children's school performance. But little is known about parental perspectives on this phenomenon. This study aims to better understand parents' perspectives on the non-medical use of prescription drugs to improve healthy children's cognitive functioning.

Effort-Reward Imbalance at Work and Prescription Drug Misuse-Prospective Evidence from Germany.

This study examines how work stress affects the misuse of prescription drugs to augment mental performance without medical necessity (i.e., cognitive enhancement).

An experimental test of Situational Action Theory of crime causation: Investigating the perception-choice process.

Criminal action, according to Situational Action Theory (SAT), is a two-stage process consisting of a perception and a choice process. This Germany-wide vignette study (N = 3,088, participants recruited offline) provides an explicit and extensive test of these processes. It experimentally varied the informal moral context, deterrence (sanctions and detection risk), and possible gains of selling prescription drugs illegally in a 2x2x2×2 between-subject design.

A Moderated Mediation Model Explaining the Relationship Between Risk-Group Membership, Threat Perception, Knowledge, and Adherence to COVID-19 Behavioral Measures.

Background: COVID-19 is a threat to individual and global health, thus, reducing the disease's spread is of significant importance. However, adherence to behavioral measures against the spread of COVID-19 is not universal, even within vulnerable populations who are at higher risk of exposure to the virus or severe COVID-19 infection. Therefore, this study investigates how risk-group membership relates to adherence to COVID-19 behavioral measures, whether perceived threat of COVID-19 is a mechanism explaining this relationship, and whether knowledge about COVID-19 moderates these effects.

Neuroenhancements in the Military: A Mixed-Method Pilot Study on Attitudes of Staff Officers to Ethics and Rules.

Unlabelled: Utilising science and technology to maximize human performance is often an essential feature of military activity. This can often be focused on mission success rather than just the welfare of the individuals involved. This tension has the potential to threaten the autonomy of soldiers and military physicians around the taking or administering of enhancement neurotechnologies (e.

Perceived risk of COVID-19 exposure and poor COVID-19 prognosis impair sleep: The mediating and moderating roles of COVID-19-related anxiety and knowledge.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been linked to increased levels of stress, depression, and anxiety in many people around the world. Therefore, identifying individuals at risk of psychosocial burden during this unprecedented crisis is essential for developing prevention measures and treatment options for mental health issues. To this aim, we investigated two risk groups: individuals at higher risk of exposure to the virus and individuals at higher risk of poor prognosis if they contract the virus.

Assessing sleep problems and daytime functioning: a translation, adaption, and validation of the Athens Insomnia Scale for non-clinical application (AIS-NCA).

 Sleep problems are common and have been linked to health problems, diminished well-being, and impaired performance. Many scales to diagnose clinically relevant sleep problems are time-consuming, complex, and difficult to administer in non-clinical and multi-thematic studies. Through a multi-stage translation (from English to German) and scale testing process, we developed a parsimonious measure of sleep problems and daytime functioning for non-clinical applications based on the Athens Insomnia Scale.

Unhealthy parenting strategies: Situational (Dis-)Incentives, Machiavellian personality, and their interaction on misuse of ADHD medication for healthy children.

Some parents engage in the potentially unhealthy and morally debateable parenting practice of giving prescription stimulant drugs to healthy children to boost their school and extracurricular performance. However, the parents' underlying reasoning remains unexamined. This web-based study (N = 1360) simultaneously investigates eight experimentally-varied situational (dis-)incentives (e.

Public Stigma Toward Female and Male Opium and Heroin Users. An Experimental Test of Attribution Theory and the Familiarity Hypothesis.

Drug abuse and addiction exist around the world. People addicted to drugs such as opium or heroin often encounter dehumanizing discriminatory behaviors and health-care systems that are reluctant to provide services. Experiencing discrimination often serves as a barrier to receiving help or finding a home or work.

Cognitive Enhancement: Unanswered Questions About Human Psychology and Social Behavior.

Stimulant drugs, transcranial magnetic stimulation, brain-computer interfaces, and even genetic modifications are all discussed as forms of potential cognitive enhancement. Cognitive enhancement can be conceived as a benefit-seeking strategy used by healthy individuals to enhance cognitive abilities such as learning, memory, attention, or vigilance. This phenomenon is hotly debated in the public, professional, and scientific literature.

Memories of a Death Threat: Negative Consequences of Unconscious Thoughts About a Terrorist Attack on Attitudes Towards Alcohol.

Based on the terror management health model (TMHM), we examined the impact of terrorist attacks as reminders of death on implicit alcohol-related attitudes, including the moderating role of conscious death-related thoughts and alcohol-based self-esteem (ABS). With an online experiment ( = 487), we analyzed how thoughts and memories about a recent terrorist attack unconsciously (with a delay task) and consciously (without a delay task) affected implicit alcohol-related attitudes. We found that such thoughts increased the death-thought accessibility.

Brain-computer interfaces and personhood: interdisciplinary deliberations on neural technology.

Objective: Scientists, engineers, and healthcare professionals are currently developing a variety of new devices under the category of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). Current and future applications are both medical/assistive (e.g.

Nonmedical use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement as response to chronic stress especially when social support is lacking.

The nonmedical use of prescription drugs to improve cognitive performance has gained attention due to concerns over its social and political implications as well as side effects and long-term health consequences. Some researchers expect a future trend of an instrumental use of drugs for cognitive enhancement (CE). Thus, getting insights about causes of CE-drug consumption is warranted before the prevalence increases.

Correction: Deciphering moral intuition: How agents, deeds, and consequences influence moral judgment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Deciphering moral intuition: How agents, deeds, and consequences influence moral judgment.

Moral evaluations occur quickly following heuristic-like intuitive processes without effortful deliberation. There are several competing explanations for this. The ADC-model predicts that moral judgment consists in concurrent evaluations of three different intuitive components: the character of a person (Agent-component, A); their actions (Deed-component, D); and the consequences brought about in the situation (Consequences-component, C).

Free Will and the Brain Disease Model of Addiction: The Not So Seductive Allure of Neuroscience and Its Modest Impact on the Attribution of Free Will to People with an Addiction.

Free will has been the object of debate in the context of addiction given that addiction could compromise an individual's ability to choose freely between alternative courses of action. Proponents of the brain-disease model of addiction have argued that a neuroscience perspective on addiction reduces the attribution of free will because it relocates the cause of the disorder to the brain rather than to the person, thereby diminishing the blame attributed to the person with an addiction. Others have worried that such displacement of free will attribution would make the person with a drug addiction less responsible.

Public Stigma Toward People With Drug Addiction: A Factorial Survey.

Objective: Stigmatizing attitudes toward people with a drug addiction have detrimental effects on the lives of these people. However, the factors that influence stigma toward people with a drug addiction have not yet been thoroughly investigated, compared with the stigma of other mental illnesses. Based on attribution theory, our experiment examined to what extent individual and contextual characteristics of people with a drug addiction influence stigmatizing attitudes toward people with a drug addiction.