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Journal of Experimental Psychology.... Dec 2018Humans form social coalitions in every society on earth, yet we know very little about how social group boundaries are learned and represented. We derive predictions...
Humans form social coalitions in every society on earth, yet we know very little about how social group boundaries are learned and represented. We derive predictions from a computational model of latent structure learning to move beyond explicit category labels and mere similarity as the sole inputs to social group representations. Four experiments examine (a) how evidence for group boundaries is accumulated in a consequential social context (i.e., learning about others' political values), (b) to what extent learning about these boundaries drives one's own choices as well as attributions about other agents in the environment, and (c) whether these latent groups affect choice even in the presence of group labels that contradict the latent group structure. Our results suggest that people integrate information about how agents in the environment relate to in addition to oneself to infer social group structure. We argue that this mechanism is a plausible explanation of other theories of social relations-for example, balance theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Choice Behavior; Computer Simulation; Humans; Learning; Models, Psychological; Social Behavior; Social Environment; Social Perception
PubMed: 30265025
DOI: 10.1037/xge0000470 -
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal... Apr 2023The position an individual holds in a social network is dependent on both its direct and indirect social interactions. Because social network position is dependent on...
The position an individual holds in a social network is dependent on both its direct and indirect social interactions. Because social network position is dependent on the actions and interactions of conspecifics, it is likely that the genotypic composition of individuals within a social group impacts individuals' network positions. However, we know very little about whether social network positions have a genetic basis, and even less about how the genotypic makeup of a social group impacts network positions and structure. With ample evidence indicating that network positions influence various fitness metrics, studying how direct and indirect genetic effects shape network positions is crucial for furthering our understanding of how the social environment can respond to selection and evolve. Using replicate genotypes of fruit flies, we created social groups that varied in their genotypic makeup. Social groups were videoed, and networks were generated using motion-tracking software. We found that both an individual's own genotype and the genotypes of conspecifics in its social group affect its position within a social network. These findings provide an early example of how indirect genetic effects and social network theory can be linked, and shed new light on how quantitative genetic variation shapes the structure of social groups. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Collective behaviour through time'.
Topics: Animals; Drosophila melanogaster; Social Behavior; Genotype; Drosophila; Social Networking
PubMed: 36802774
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0075 -
The Journals of Gerontology. Series B,... Nov 2020Research investigating the health benefits of social group participation in the retirement transition has provided little insight into the longitudinal effects on...
BACKGROUND
Research investigating the health benefits of social group participation in the retirement transition has provided little insight into the longitudinal effects on cognitive health and the generalizability of these relationships to non-Western samples. The present paper addresses these issues by examining the effects of social group engagement on the cognitive performance and depression symptoms of Chinese older adults followed over 4 years in their transition to retirement.
METHODS
Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) data, a sample of 1,297 Chinese seniors transitioning to retirement were followed between 2011 and 2013, and then 2 years later (in 2015) after retirement. Group-based social engagement was used to predict retiree cognitive performance and depression symptoms across time.
RESULTS
After controlling for established demographic covariates and close relationship factors at baseline, social group engagement at baseline positively predicted overall cognitive performance and depression symptoms. Moreover, positive change in group engagement was associated with reduced decline in cognitive performance over the 4-year retirement transition period.
DISCUSSION
The current findings demonstrate the generalizability of the health benefits of social group engagement to cognitive health and to a non-Western (Chinese) sample of retirees.
Topics: Aged; China; Cognition; Depression; Female; Group Processes; Humans; Male; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Protective Factors; Retirement; Social Integration; Social Interaction; Social Participation
PubMed: 31630187
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbz134 -
Yonago Acta Medica Mar 2015The purpose of this study was to conduct a psycho-social group intervention consisting of 3 parts, educate patients on methods to cope with stress and solve problems,...
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to conduct a psycho-social group intervention consisting of 3 parts, educate patients on methods to cope with stress and solve problems, hold group discussions and practice progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) for cancer patients, and investigate the way that group dynamics work in psycho-social group interventions in Japan.
METHODS
Three facilitators and 2 sub-facilitators who conducted the group intervention for breast cancer patients were qualitatively and inductively analyzed using a phenomenological approach.
RESULTS
As a result, "hard effort," "harmony of the whole group" and "collaboration between therapists" were extracted as the partnership functions of participants that work on the creation of group dynamics in psycho-social group interventions. There was a structure in which "harmony of the whole group" and "collaboration between therapists" coexisted based on the basic attitude of "hard effort."
CONCLUSION
It was considered that these 3 intervention forms are involved in group dynamics in which participants can easily hold discussions, and are techniques necessary for group intervention contributing to changes in the psychological distress and the coping of participants.
PubMed: 26190897
DOI: No ID Found -
Aggressive Behavior 2010This study examined whether the effect of social group norms on 7- and 10-year-old children's aggression can be moderated or extinguished by contrary school norms....
This study examined whether the effect of social group norms on 7- and 10-year-old children's aggression can be moderated or extinguished by contrary school norms. Children (n=384) participated in a simulation in which they were assigned membership in a social group for a drawing competition against an outgroup. Participants learnt that their group had a norm of inclusion, exclusion, or exclusion-plus-relational aggression, toward non-group members, and that the school either had a norm of inclusion, or no such norm. Findings indicated that group norms influenced the participants' direct and indirect aggressive intentions, but that the school norm moderated the group norm effect, with the school's norm effect tending to be greater for indirect vs. direct aggression, males vs. females, and younger vs. older participants. Discussion focused on how school norms can be developed, endorsed, and presented so that they have their most lasting effect on children.
Topics: Aggression; Child; Female; Humans; Male; Peer Group; Psychological Tests; Schools; Social Behavior; Social Conformity; Social Environment; Social Values
PubMed: 20301137
DOI: 10.1002/ab.20342 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Jun 2018Group living is widespread among animal species, and comes with a number of costs and benefits associated with foraging, predator avoidance and reproduction. It is...
Group living is widespread among animal species, and comes with a number of costs and benefits associated with foraging, predator avoidance and reproduction. It is largely unknown, however, whether individuals sacrifice exposure to their own preferred or optimal environmental conditions so they can remain part of a social group. Here, we demonstrate that individual three-spine sticklebacks vary in the degree to which they forego exposure to their preferred ambient temperature so they can associate with a group of conspecifics. Individual fish varied widely in preferred temperature when tested in isolation. When the same individuals were presented with a choice of a warm or cold thermal regime in the presence of a social group in one of the environments, fish spent more time with the group if it was close to their own individually preferred temperature. When a group was in a relatively cool environment, focal individuals that were more social deviated most strongly from their preferred temperature to associate with the group. Standard and maximum metabolic rate were not related to temperature preference or thermal compromise. However, individuals with a higher standard metabolic rate were less social, and so energetic demand may indirectly influence the environmental costs experienced by group members. The reduced tendency to engage with a social group when there is a large difference between the group temperature and the individual's preferred temperature suggests a role for temperature in group formation and cohesion that is mediated by individual physiology and behaviour. Together, these data highlight exposure to non-preferred temperatures as a potential cost of group membership that probably has important but to date unrecognized implications for metabolic demand, energy allocation, locomotor performance and overall group functioning.
Topics: Animals; Environment; Smegmamorpha; Social Behavior; Temperature
PubMed: 29899078
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0884 -
ELife Feb 2020Humans form social coalitions in every society, yet we know little about how we learn and represent social group boundaries. Here we derive predictions from a...
Humans form social coalitions in every society, yet we know little about how we learn and represent social group boundaries. Here we derive predictions from a computational model of latent structure learning to move beyond explicit category labels and interpersonal, or , similarity as the sole inputs to social group representations. Using a model-based analysis of functional neuroimaging data, we find that separate areas correlate with dyadic similarity and latent structure learning. Trial-by-trial estimates of 'allyship' based on dyadic similarity between participants and each agent recruited medial prefrontal cortex/pregenual anterior cingulate (pgACC). Latent social group structure-based allyship estimates, in contrast, recruited right anterior insula (rAI). Variability in the brain signal from rAI improved prediction of variability in ally-choice behavior, whereas variability from the pgACC did not. These results provide novel insights into the psychological and neural mechanisms by which people learn to distinguish 'us' from 'them.'
Topics: Brain; Cerebral Cortex; Choice Behavior; Female; Functional Neuroimaging; Gyrus Cinguli; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Models, Neurological; Prefrontal Cortex; Social Identification; Social Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 32067635
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.53162 -
Current Zoology Feb 2015Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a...
Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a social group is at risk of collapse is difficult. We used a joint network modeling approach to examine the interdependencies between two behavioral networks, aggression and status signaling, from four stable and three unstable groups of rhesus macaques in order to identify characteristic patterns of network interdependence in stable groups that are readily distinguishable from unstable groups. Our results showed that the most prominent source of aggression-status network interdependence in stable social groups came from more frequent dyads than expected with opposite direction status-aggression (i.e. A threatens B and B signals acceptance of subordinate status). In contrast, unstable groups showed a decrease in opposite direction aggression-status dyads (but remained higher than expected) as well as more frequent than expected dyads with bidirectional aggression. These results demonstrate that not only was the stable joint relationship between aggression and status networks readily distinguishable from unstable time points, social instability manifested in at least two different ways. In sum, our joint modeling approach may prove useful in quantifying and monitoring the complex social dynamics of any wild or captive social system, as all social systems are composed of multiple interconnected networks.
PubMed: 26052339
DOI: 10.1093/czoolo/61.1.70 -
Behavior Therapy Nov 2022Groups 4 Health (G4H) is a group psychotherapy program that targets social group disconnection. An emerging evidence base supports its efficacy in reducing loneliness,...
Groups 4 Health (G4H) is a group psychotherapy program that targets social group disconnection. An emerging evidence base supports its efficacy in reducing loneliness, depression, and social anxiety. However, to date there has been no formal analysis of its acceptability to clients and therapists, nor an investigation of its feasibility for wider implementation. This input from end users is crucial to ensure the program's wider suitability and to contribute to its improvement. This study drew data from three clinical trials, including 266 G4H clients and 68 G4H therapists. From the Phase III trial only, additional data were available from 90 clients in a dose-controlled cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) comparison group, and focus groups/interviews with 6 therapists and 13 clients. Client satisfaction was high, with all average ratings >7/10, significantly exceeding the CBT comparison group. Therapist satisfaction with each module was >5/7. Retention was >80%. Homework completion was high, with <10% of clients saying that they had not attempted the homework. Therapists and clients both emphasized the benefits arising from G4H, and the contribution of the group context itself as a vehicle to achieve positive outcomes.
Topics: Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Feasibility Studies; Humans; Loneliness; Personal Satisfaction; Psychotherapy, Group; Treatment Outcome
PubMed: 36229119
DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.06.011 -
British Journal of Pain Oct 2022Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)-based programmes for chronic pain are often conducted in groups, most likely for time and cost efficiencies. However, there has been...
INTRODUCTION
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)-based programmes for chronic pain are often conducted in groups, most likely for time and cost efficiencies. However, there has been very little investigation of the role that the group itself, and particularly the processes occurring within the group, may play in individual outcomes. The objective of this study was to explore whether social group processes were relevant to key treatment outcomes of group CBT for chronic pain.
METHOD
Data were collected from 15 groups (N = 118) undertaking a pain management programme in a tertiary setting. Intraclass correlations were computed to determine any clustering of outcomes in groups, and linear mixed modelling analysis explored pre-registered hypotheses of associations between treatment outcomes and the social group processes of Group Identification and Sense of Belonging.
RESULTS
A weak association between early identification with the group and changes in pain-related disability was shown. In addition, an enhanced global Sense of Belonging was associated with increased pain self-efficacy.
CONCLUSION
These associations, in a programme that had not been designed to address group processes, suggest that their relevance is worth further investigation, particularly in group programmes that do focus on the social consequences of chronic pain. Future studies should investigate whether manipulation of social group processes within a CBT-based pain programme enhances pain-related outcomes and improves the overall well-being of people with chronic pain.
PubMed: 36389006
DOI: 10.1177/20494637221098941