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This preregistered study replicates and extends studies concerning emotional response to wartime rally speeches and applies it to U.S. President Donald Trump's first national address regarding the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020. We experimentally test the effect of a micro-expression (ME) by Trump associated with appraised threat on change in participant self-reported distress, sadness, anger, affinity, and reassurance while controlling for followership. We find that polarization is perpetuated in emotional response to the address which focused on portraying the COVID-19 threat as being of Chinese provenance. We also find a significant, albeit slight, effect by Trump's ME on self-reported sadness, suggesting that this facial behavior served did not diminish his speech, instead serving as a form of nonverbal punctuation. Further exploration of participant response using the Linguistic Inventory and Word Count software reinforces and extends these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal documentary films such as Blackfish, considered nonfiction accounts of reality, nonetheless use rhetorical devices to engage viewers and shape their emotional experience for maximum effect. Such devices can also influence attitudes and alter behavior. In animal documentaries, anthropomorphic impressions of the animals by audiences are key. Using general population samples in the US, three online experiments assessed the influence of background music and narrative setting on how viewers emotionally appraised the emotional state of a killer whale (Orcinus orca) and subsequently donated to causes affiliated with killer whales. While happy music led to perceptions of a happy whale, sad music led to perceptions of a sad whale. mediation analyses showed that these perceptions indirectly influence donation behavior, via beliefs about the killer whale's welfare and wellbeing. Analyses also indicated that the highest donation amounts towards killer whales were elicited from footage depicting a killer whale in the wild, with sad background music. These findings highlight the potential power that animal and nature documentaries have over viewers, which, when combined with human tendencies toward anthropomorphism, can have significant influence on conservation attitudes and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined empathy and emotion dysregulation, two individual traits related to the perception and experience of others' emotions, and the recognition of both spontaneous and standardized microexpressions of emotion. Ninety-three participants viewed a stimulus set of natural (spontaneous) microexpressions in addition to completing a standardized test of microexpression recognition ability, as well as completing questionnaires on empathy and emotion dysregulation. Results indicate that emotion dysregulation is associated with enhanced microexpression recognition, particularly recognition of anger microexpressions, but that this enhanced recognition was only observed for standardized microexpressions. Empathy was associated with increased recognition of anger microexpressions in the natural stimulus set only, and was not associated with overall microexpression recognition accuracy in either the natural stimulus set or the standardized test. The present findings inform understanding of intrapersonal affective traits in subtle emotion recognition, and theoretical and practical implications are discussed in both clinical and deception detection contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore user susceptibility to phishing by unpacking the mechanisms that may influence individual victimization. The focus is on the characteristics of the e-mail message, users’ knowledge and experience with phishing, and the manner in which these interact and influence how users cognitively process phishing e-mails. Design/methodology/approach – A field experiment was conducted where 194 subjects were exposed to a real phishing attack. The experimenters manipulated the contents of the message and measures of user traits and user processing were obtained after the phishing attack. Findings – Of the original list of targets, 47 percent divulged their private information to a bogus form page. Phishing susceptibility was predicted by a particular combination of both low attention to the e-mail elements and high elaboration of the phishing message. The presence of a threat or reward-based phishing message did not affect these processes, nor did it affect subsequent phishing susceptibility. Finally, individual factors such as knowledge and experience with e-mail increased resilience to the phishing attack. Research limitations/implications – The findings are generalizable to students who are a particularly vulnerable target of phishing attacks. Practical implications – The results presented in this study provide pragmatic recommendations for developing user-centered interventions to thwart phishing attacks. Lastly the authors suggest more effective educational efforts to protect individuals from such online fraud. Originality/value – This study provides novel insight into why phishing is successful, the human factor in susceptibility to online deception as well the role of information processing in effective decision making in this context. Based on the findings, the authors dispel common misconceptions about phishing and discuss more effective educational efforts to protect individuals from such online fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little attention has been given to the differences in information dispersion and interpretation during emergencies in collegiate environments which utilize diffusion. This manuscript seeks to add to social science knowledge via an expansion of diffusion of information literature by combining it with third-person effects and message credibility literature. In 2010, at a large Northeastern University, an alert went from the university warning students of a potential gunman on campus. Results indicate that high levels of third person effect were associated with greater sharing of information, and early knowers were more trusting of messages from both interpersonal and mass media channels than late knowers. Desire to share information was also more associated with early knowers, and theoretical implications are also discussed. Finally, suggestions for streamlining communication with regards to classroom policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency response systems can be improved by investigating the motives and manner in which people share information during an active shooter crisis. This article analyzed survey data collected from undergraduate participants at The University of Texas at Austin who were enrolled during the fall of 2010 when an active shooter event occurred on campus. Our findings indicated that distance from a threat predicts an individual’s perception of message credibility. Additional findings suggested innovativeness is a strong driving factor in individuals’ reliance on social and personal media to contact others who need safety updates. Finally, perceptions of mortality and experience to negative media portrayals were positively related to active information sharing during this event. Limitations and suggestions for future research are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ostracism, a complex social phenomenon, involves both targets (ostracized individuals) and sources (ostracizers). The current experiment redressed a gap in the ostracism literature by devising a novel, three-phase paradigm to investigate motivated ostracizing. In the current study, 83 females were assigned to one of four conditions during a Cyberball game: motivated sources chose to ostracize an obnoxious fellow player, induced sources ostracized a fellow player at the behest of the experimenter, targets were ostracized, and included participants received the ball proportionately. Analysis of participants’ primary needs, emotions, ratings of their co-players, and behavior toward their co-players indicated that being the target of ostracism was a robustly aversive experience. Both motivated and induced sources reported fortified control. Moreover, a motive for ostracizing influenced source experience: induced sources experienced greater levels of negative moral emotion and behaved more prosocially toward their target than motivated sources. The flexibility and demonstrated impact of this novel paradigm adds to the toolkit available to researchers interested in expanding insight into the psychological processes underlying, and the motivational and behavioral outcomes of being, a source of ostracism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]