1. Testing the waters: Attempts by wild killer whales (Orcinus orca) to provision people (Homo sapiens)
Towers, J. R., et al.
Wild predators may intentionally make offerings to humans by sharing prey, suggests research published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology (advance online publication). Researchers examined 34 cases of killer whales (Orcinus orca) offering prey to humans on boats, in the water, and, more rarely, on shore. This behavior was recorded in four oceans, and the whales involved were male and female and of varied ages. Items offered included fish, mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates, and seaweed. The researchers believe this interspecies altruistic behavior may indicate that killer whales are practicing learned cultural behavior, exploring, or playing while also learning about human behavior and possibly developing relationships with humans. The findings indicate that sharing may be a common cultural behavior among certain killer whale populations that, as in humans, enables them to interact and build relationships beyond their own species.
DOI: 10.1037/com0000422
2. Police-induced confessions, 2.0: Risk factors and recommendations
Kassin, S. M., et al.
This review article, published in Law and Human Behavior (Vol. 49, No. 1), synthesizes the available science on false confessions in the criminal justice system, expanding on a systematic review published in 2010. The article highlights the situational and personal factors that contribute to false confessions and the chain of negative effects that may follow, which can bias the interpretation of evidence and increase the likelihood of erroneous convictions and guilty pleas. The authors call attention to evidence suggesting that Miranda warnings, which advise suspects of their right to silence, are not an effective safeguard against false confessions and describe newer, evidence-based approaches to suspect interviews that center on reliable information gathering. The article concludes with seven recommendations for reforming interrogation-related practices and processes to prevent false confessions. Among these recommendations, the authors reiterate the 2010 call for mandatory video recording of suspect interviews. They also propose the adoption of science-based interviewing practices and added protections for adolescents and others who are at increased risk of false confessions. The authors contend that these reforms can help create a criminal justice system that is more just for everyone.
DOI: 10.1037/lhb0000593
3. “Being really confidently wrong”: Qualitative researchers’ experiences of methodologically incongruent peer review feedback
Clarke, V., et al.
Qualitative researchers experience the peer-review process as incongruent with their research values and methodology, feeling that reviewers and editors do not fully grasp the broader knowledge framework within which qualitative research is situated, according to a study published in Qualitative Psychology (Vol. 12, No. 1). In a survey of 163 qualitative researchers from varied fields, including psychology, most interviewees reported that peer reviewers and editors applied research assumptions that guide quantitative research but differ from qualitative research frameworks. Some interviewees also reported that reviewers and editors erroneously universalize norms and values that are particular to some qualitative approaches and noted concerns with reviewers agreeing to review without having methodological expertise on qualitative research. Given the pressure to publish, many researchers also indicated that they often compromised research integrity to satisfy reviewers. The authors offer strategies for researchers addressing incongruent reviews and call for improved integrity of the peer-review process for qualitative research.
DOI: 10.1037/qup0000322
4. Anxiety about the social consequences of missed group experiences intensifies fear of missing out (FOMO)
Rifkin, J. R., et al.
People experience fear of missing out, or FOMO, when they feel they have missed opportunities for social bonding that may affect their future relationships, suggests research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitudes and Social Cognition (Vol. 128, No. 2). The research, conducted as a series of online studies, included a combined total of 5,441 participants. Participants reported more FOMO when they thought about missing a social group event that focused on social bonding compared with an event focused on training. Thinking about missing a social bonding event triggered FOMO even when participants anticipated the event would not be pleasant or enjoyable. Seeing friends’ social media photos intensified participants’ feelings of FOMO, while thinking about a previous instance of social connection decreased those feelings. The studies suggest that projections about the social costs of missing an event play a key role in FOMO, making it distinct from feelings of regret or social exclusion.
DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000418
5. Personality profiles of 263 occupations
Anni, K., et al.
How do people with different occupations differ in their personality traits? Research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (Vol. 110, No. 4) explored this question by mapping 263 occupations in the self-reported Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) of 68,540 Estonian individuals. The researchers then validated the findings with informant-reported traits for 19,989 of these individuals and examined other personality domains and work styles. Controlling for age and gender, they found overall that different occupations tended to have different average personality traits that followed intuition. For example, occupations with the highest average openness included creative roles and those open to novel knowledge, such as professors and researchers. An interactive web applicationopens in new window makes the occupational personality profiles easily accessible.
DOI: 10.1037/apl0001249
6. Arctic instincts? The late Pleistocene arctic origins of East Asian psychology
Sun, D.
Some psychosocial traits common in modern East Asian populations may come from ancestral adaptations to life in harsh arctic environments, suggests this article published in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences (Vol. 19, No. 3). Ancestral ancient northern East Asian populations lived in extremely cold, isolated regions where survival required strong group cooperation and emotional control. When these populations migrated south to East Asia, the traits persisted. The author explores this idea by comparing modern East Asian and Inuit populations who still live in arctic conditions, suggesting that both share high emotional control, a focus on group harmony and cohesion, the prevalence of indirect communication and unassertiveness, and high introversion, consciousness, and perseverance. Moreover, these traits have also been observed in non-native people working in polar environments. The author suggests that these “Arcticist traits,” which focus on cooperation and conflict avoidance, represent adaptations to or are by-products of life in arctic climates and explain the roots of common East Asian psychosocial traits.
DOI: 10.1037/ebs0000373
7. The psychology of sexual and gender diversity in the 21st century: Social technologies and stories of authenticity
Hammack, P. L., & Manago, A. M.
Recent advancements in social technologies have challenged traditional sources of information authority and provided new opportunities for individuals to experience authenticity in gender and sexuality, this article suggests (American Psychologist, Vol. 80, No. 3). The authors describe five cultural narratives of this authenticity: a) gender as self-constructed; b) sexuality as plural, playful, flexible, and fluid; c) sexuality and monogamy as cultural compulsions; d) intersectionality as central to the experience of sexuality and gender; and e) resurgent cisheteropatriarchal masculinity. The first four narratives support gender and sexual diversity, whereas the fifth is hostile to diversity. The authors suggest five principles for research and practice: a) ground psychological science and practice in lived experience; b) challenge normative thinking about sexuality and gender; c) practice affirmation, not suspicion; d) center diversity over discrete identity categories; and e) embrace fluid and nonlinear narratives of social change.
DOI: 10.1037/amp0001366
8. There is no evidence that time spent on social media is correlated with adolescent mental health problems: Findings from a meta-analysis
Ferguson, C. J., et al.
A meta-analysis of correlational and experimental studies examining associations between social media use and teen mental health yielded a mean effect size near zero, suggesting the observed effects cannot be distinguished from statistical noise. The meta-analysis, published in Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (Vol. 56, No. 1), included 46 studies with adolescent participants that provided enough detail for the authors to calculate effect sizes. The analyses showed that effect sizes tended to be slightly larger for girls than boys and slightly smaller for longitudinal studies than point-in-time studies. However, the observed effects were below the authors’ threshold for the smallest effect size of interest. Although most studies used standardized measures of mental health and many included control variables such as gender and age, they rarely included other best practices such as distractor tasks and measures to identify hypothesis-guessing. The authors conclude that the existing literature is unable to produce reliable evidence for a link between time spent on social media and teens’ mental health.
DOI: 10.1037/pro0000589
9. Microaggressions and dropout when working with sexual minority parents in clinical settings: The working alliance as a mediating mechanism
Carone, N., et al.
How do mental health clinicians navigate the therapeutic relationship with sexual minority patients? To find out, researchers recruited 71 therapists in Italy who had previously treated a sexual minority patient who was a parent. The therapists read a vignette about a child showing concerning behavior and rated the relevance of 20 questions they could ask the child’s sexual minority parents to make a clinical assessment. Some of the questions included microaggressions that conveyed prejudice in subtle or indirect ways. The study results, published in Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (Vol. 12, No. 1), suggested that therapists who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and therapists who had been trained on LGBTQ+ issues considered microaggressive questions less clinically relevant than their peers. Among heterosexual therapists and therapists not trained on LGBTQ+ issues, those who found microaggressive questions more relevant also reported having a poorer working alliance with their sexual minority patients. This poorer working alliance was associated with a higher likelihood of patient dropout. The findings shed light on how clinicians’ backgrounds might shape their therapeutic interactions with sexual minority patients.
DOI: 10.1037/sgd0000651
10. Longitudinal associations between screen time and children’s language, early educational skills, and peer social functioning
Gath, M., et al.
Children’s daily screen exposure at age 2 predicted their language and literacy outcomes at age 4.5 and social outcomes at age 8, according to data from the Growing Up in New Zealand study. The research, published in Developmental Psychology (advance online publication), examined data from 6,281 children, collected between 2011 and 2018. The study included measures of direct and indirect exposure to TV and video games; vocabulary and communication skills; writing, numeracy, and letter fluency skills; and peer problems and prosocial behavior. More than 1.5 hours of direct screen exposure per day at age 2 was associated with below average language and educational skills at age 4.5 and above average peer problems at age 8. Although modest, the associations between screen time and later outcomes held even after the researchers accounted for child sex and ethnicity, maternal age and education, and family socioeconomic status. The researchers note that more nuanced measures of screen content and context may help clarify the mechanisms that link early exposure with long-term language, educational, and social development.
DOI: 10.1037/dev0001907
