-
Journal of Abnormal Psychology Feb 2021Paranoia is the exaggerated belief that harm will occur and is intended by others. Although commonly framed in terms of attributing malicious intent to others, recent...
Paranoia is the exaggerated belief that harm will occur and is intended by others. Although commonly framed in terms of attributing malicious intent to others, recent work has explored how paranoia also affects social decision-making, using economic games. Previous work found that paranoia is associated with decreased cooperation and increased punishment in the Dictator Game (where cooperating and punishing involve paying a cost to respectively increase or decrease a partner's income). These findings suggest that paranoia might be associated with variation in subjective reward from positive and/or negative social decision-making, a possibility we explore using a preregistered experiment with U.S.-based participants (n = 2,004). Paranoia was associated with increased self-reported enjoyment of negative social interactions and decreased self-reported enjoyment of prosocial interactions. More paranoid participants attributed stronger harmful intent to a partner. Harmful intent attributions and the enjoyment of negative social interactions positively predicted the tendency to pay to punish the partner. Cooperation was positively associated with the tendency to enjoy prosocial interactions and increased with participant age. There was no main effect of paranoia on tendency to cooperate in this setting. We discuss these findings in light of previous research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Female; Humans; Intention; Male; Middle Aged; Paranoid Disorders; Punishment; Reward; Social Interaction; Social Perception; United States; Young Adult
PubMed: 33271038
DOI: 10.1037/abn0000647 -
Behavior Therapy May 2021The aim of this study was to examine trait, state, and temporal instability measures of self-critical and self-punishment cognitions to evaluate their respective roles...
The aim of this study was to examine trait, state, and temporal instability measures of self-critical and self-punishment cognitions to evaluate their respective roles in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). Participants were university students with a history of NSSI (n = 64) and those with no history of NSSI (n = 59). At baseline, participants completed measures assessing history of NSSI behavior, as well as trait measures of self-criticism and self-punishment. After completion of baseline procedures, participants subsequently participated in a 10-day ecological momentary assessment protocol in which self-critical and self-punishment cognitions were assessed in real time three times daily. Employing bivariate and multivariate frameworks, our results demonstrate that both trait and state levels of self-critical and self-punishment cognitions robustly differentiate between young adults with and without a lifetime history of NSSI. The present results also confirm that the temporal instability of these cognitive states also meaningfully differentiate between groups, such that those who exhibit greater fluctuations in these cognitive states are more likely to have a history of NSSI. The current findings suggest that trait, state, and temporal instability of negative self-focused cognitions may be vulnerability factors for engagement in NSSI.
Topics: Cognition; Ecological Momentary Assessment; Humans; Punishment; Self-Assessment; Self-Injurious Behavior; Young Adult
PubMed: 33990242
DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2020.08.006 -
Journal of Affective Disorders Jun 2023From a behavioural perspective anhedonia is defined as diminished interest in the engagement of pleasurable activities. Despite its presence across a range of...
BACKGROUND
From a behavioural perspective anhedonia is defined as diminished interest in the engagement of pleasurable activities. Despite its presence across a range of psychiatric disorders, the cognitive processes that give rise to anhedonia remain unclear.
METHODS
Here we examine whether anhedonia is associated with learning from positive and negative outcomes in patients diagnosed with major depression, schizophrenia and opiate use disorder alongside a healthy control group. Responses in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test - a task associated with healthy prefrontal cortex function - were fitted to the Attentional Learning Model (ALM) which separates learning from positive and negative feedback.
RESULTS
Learning from punishment, but not from reward, was negatively associated with anhedonia beyond other socio-demographic, cognitive and clinical variables. This impairment in punishment sensitivity was also associated with faster responses following negative feedback, independently of the degree of surprise.
LIMITATIONS
Future studies should test the longitudinal association between punishment sensitivity and anhedonia also in other clinical populations controlling for the effect of specific medications.
CONCLUSIONS
Together the results reveal that anhedonic subjects, because of their negative expectations, are less sensitive to negative feedbacks; this might lead them to persist in actions leading to negative outcomes.
Topics: Humans; Schizophrenia; Punishment; Anhedonia; Depression; Opiate Alkaloids; Reward
PubMed: 36889442
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.02.120 -
International Journal of Environmental... Nov 2022There is growing debate in the parenting literature as to whether using physical punishment to discipline children is an effective strategy or leads to the development... (Review)
Review
There is growing debate in the parenting literature as to whether using physical punishment to discipline children is an effective strategy or leads to the development of aggressive behaviors and other antisocial attributes. The aim of the current literature review is to examine the association between harsh physical discipline and the development of externalizing behaviors in children, as well as the suggested moderators of this relationship. Secondly, the findings regarding the effects of harsh physical discipline on children's educational outcomes are reviewed. Articles were selected from relevant databases while maintaining an inclusion and exclusion criteria, with a total of 22 articles included in this review. Strong associations between parental corporal punishment and a range of child behaviors were indicated by the literature, and cultural normativeness was implicated as a moderator of these effects. Results regarding the role of parental warmth as a moderator did not provide a firm conclusion. Finally, the findings suggest that when a child is subjected to physical discipline in the home, their life at school may be adversely affected by impaired cognitive performance, peer isolation, and behavioral problems. The primary limitation of the studies reviewed is the use of self-report data and correlational analyses, ruling out the possibility of inferring causal relations. Nonetheless, the results indicate the necessity of encouraging parents and caregivers to avoid physical punishment as a disciplinary tactic while providing them with the tools to explore alternative practices.
Topics: Child; Humans; Punishment; Parenting; Aggression; Problem Behavior; Schools
PubMed: 36361265
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192114385 -
Scientific Reports Sep 2022People assign less punishment to individuals who inflict harm collectively, compared to those who do so alone. We show that this arises from judgments of diminished...
People assign less punishment to individuals who inflict harm collectively, compared to those who do so alone. We show that this arises from judgments of diminished individual causal responsibility in the collective cases. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 1002) assigned less punishment to individuals involved in collective actions leading to intentional and accidental deaths, but not failed attempts, emphasizing that harmful outcomes, but not malicious intentions, were necessary and sufficient for the diffusion of punishment. Experiments 2.a compared the diffusion of punishment for harmful actions with 'victimless' purity violations (e.g., eating a dead human's flesh as a group; N = 752). In victimless cases, where the question of causal responsibility for harm does not arise, diffusion of collective responsibility was greatly reduced-an outcome replicated in Experiment 2.b (N = 479). Together, the results are consistent with discounting in causal attribution as the underlying mechanism of reduction in proposed punishment for collective harmful actions.
Topics: Humans; Intention; Judgment; Punishment; Social Behavior; Social Perception
PubMed: 36097011
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19156-x -
Physical Review. E Jun 2020Punishment has been considered as an effective mechanism for promoting and sustaining cooperation. In most existing models, punishment always comes as a third strategy...
Punishment has been considered as an effective mechanism for promoting and sustaining cooperation. In most existing models, punishment always comes as a third strategy alongside cooperation and defection, and it is commonly assumed to be executed based on individual decision rules rather than collective decision rules. Differently from previous works, we employ a democratic procedure by which cooperators cast votes independently and simultaneously for whether to impose punishment on defectors, and we establish a relationship between the cooperators' willingness to punish defectors (WTPD) and whether the punishment is inflicted on defectors. The results illustrate that the population can evolve to full cooperation under consensual punishment. It is noteworthy that, compared with autonomous punishment, whether consensual punishment is more in favor of cooperation crucially depends on the minimum number of votes required for punishment execution as well as the cooperators' WTPD. Our findings highlight the importance of collective decision making in the evolution of cooperation and may provide a mathematical framework for explaining the prevalence of democracy in modern societies.
Topics: Consensus; Cooperative Behavior; Democracy; Models, Theoretical; Punishment
PubMed: 32688481
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.101.062419 -
Scientific Reports Mar 2021The evolution of costly punishment is a puzzle due to cooperators' second-order free-riding. Previous studies have proposed many solutions mainly focused on reducing the...
The evolution of costly punishment is a puzzle due to cooperators' second-order free-riding. Previous studies have proposed many solutions mainly focused on reducing the punishment cost or punishing second-order free riders directly or indirectly. We attempt to explain this confusion from the perspective of punishment motivation, which is why the punisher is willing to pay the cost. The answer is that the punisher is egoistic. Egoistic punishment aims to protect punishers' own cooperative benefits shared by the defectors. In such case, egoistic punishers would pay a cost in punishing defectors and retrieve lost payoffs from defectors. Here, we examined the evolution and performance of egoistic punishment and compared it with typical altruistic punishment using classic peer-punishment and pool-punishment modes. Results showed egoistic punishment can evolve and effectively promote cooperation within a large parameter range, whether in a well-mixed or structured population, or through peer-punishment or pool-punishment modes. This result is also robust to different strategy-updating rules. The evolution under the pool-punishment mechanism is more complicated. The influence of parameters is counter-intuitive because of cycle dominance; namely, the cost is the key factor to control the level of cooperation and the fine determines the ratio of the punishers and cooperators. Compared with altruistic punishment, egoistic punishment can promote cooperation in a lower-fine and higher-cost area, especially in the pool punishment mode, and the egoistic punishers have stronger survivability. Egoistic punishers represent the natural fairness in a social system. Results revealed that focusing on individual equity can significantly promote collective cooperation. This study provides another explanation for the evolution of costly punishment.
PubMed: 33753774
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-85814-1 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Nov 2022Reciprocal fairness, in the form of punishment and reward, is at the core of human societal order. Its underlying neural mechanisms are, however, not fully understood....
Reciprocal fairness, in the form of punishment and reward, is at the core of human societal order. Its underlying neural mechanisms are, however, not fully understood. We systemize suggestive evidence regarding the involvement of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in reciprocal fairness in three cognitive mechanisms (, and ). We test them and provide novel insights in a comprehensive behavioural experiment with non-invasive brain stimulation where participants can punish greedy actions and reward generous actions. Brain stimulation of either brain area decreases reward and punishment when reciprocation is costly but unexpectedly increases reward when it is non-costly. None of the hypothesized mechanisms fully accounts for the observed behaviour, and the asymmetric involvement of the investigated brain areas in punishment and reward suggests that different psychological mechanisms are underlying punishing selfishness and rewarding generosity. We propose that, for reciprocal punishment, the rDLPFC and the mPFC process self-relevant information, in terms of both personal cost and personal involvement; for reciprocal reward, these brain regions are involved in controlling selfish and pure reciprocity motives, while simultaneously promoting the enforcement of fairness norms. These insights bear importance for endeavours to build biologically plausible models of human behaviour.
Topics: Humans; Punishment; Reward; Prefrontal Cortex; Brain; Motivation
PubMed: 36321495
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1590 -
ELife Jun 2021Punishment maximises the probability of our individual survival by reducing behaviours that cause us harm, and also sustains trust and fairness in groups essential for... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Punishment maximises the probability of our individual survival by reducing behaviours that cause us harm, and also sustains trust and fairness in groups essential for social cohesion. However, some individuals are more sensitive to punishment than others and these differences in punishment sensitivity have been linked to a variety of decision-making deficits and psychopathologies. The mechanisms for why individuals differ in punishment sensitivity are poorly understood, although recent studies of conditioned punishment in rodents highlight a key role for punishment contingency detection (Jean-Richard-Dit-Bressel et al., 2019). Here, we applied a novel 'Planets and Pirates' conditioned punishment task in humans, allowing us to identify the mechanisms for why individuals differ in their sensitivity to punishment. We show that punishment sensitivity is bimodally distributed in a large sample of normal participants. Sensitive and insensitive individuals equally liked reward and showed similar rates of reward-seeking. They also equally disliked punishment and did not differ in their valuation of cues that signalled punishment. However, sensitive and insensitive individuals differed profoundly in their capacity to detect and learn volitional control over aversive outcomes. Punishment insensitive individuals did not learn the instrumental contingencies, so they could not withhold behaviour that caused punishment and could not generate appropriately selective behaviours to prevent impending punishment. These differences in punishment sensitivity could not be explained by individual differences in behavioural inhibition, impulsivity, or anxiety. This bimodal punishment sensitivity and these deficits in instrumental contingency learning are identical to those dictating punishment sensitivity in non-human animals, suggesting that they are general properties of aversive learning and decision-making.
Topics: Biological Variation, Population; Choice Behavior; Conditioning, Operant; Cues; Female; Humans; Impulsive Behavior; Inhibition, Psychological; Male; Punishment; Reward; Task Performance and Analysis; Video Games; Volition
PubMed: 34085930
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.69594 -
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Jul 2022The study of the risk and protective factors in aggression is of fundamental importance for our society. The aim of this research was to clarify the role of sensitivity...
The study of the risk and protective factors in aggression is of fundamental importance for our society. The aim of this research was to clarify the role of sensitivity to reward/punishment in aggression and provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying this relationship, particularly given that previous studies in the literature have yielded mixed results. To this end, two studies were conducted. In Study 1 (484 participants; M = 39.09; 48.6s women), we explored the relationship between sensitivity to reward and punishment and four components of aggression: physical, verbal, anger, and hostility. In Study 2 (229 participants; M = 21.52; 56.77% women), we investigated the moderating role of emotion regulation ability in this relationship. The findings of Studies 1 and 2 supported the existence of a positive relationship between sensitivity to reward and aggression, that is, a high reactivity to reward acted as a risk factor. With respect to sensitivity to punishment, mediation analysis revealed that this variable may act both as a protective factor as well as a risk factor for behavioral aggression. A higher reactivity to punishment had a direct negative effect on physical and verbal aggression, inhibiting aggressive behavior. However, a higher reactivity to punishment also implied a positive indirect effect on physical and verbal aggression through an increase in anger and hostility. Interestingly, Study 2 revealed that these indirect effects were moderated by emotion regulation ability. Our results could help to inform the design of aggression prevention and intervention programs for reducing the impact of this behavior on our society.
Topics: Adult; Aggression; Anger; Female; Hostility; Humans; Male; Punishment; Reward; Young Adult
PubMed: 33459131
DOI: 10.1177/0886260520986275