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A unique population of ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons co-transmits glutamate and GABA. However, the circuit inputs to VTA VGluT2+VGaT+ neurons are unknown, limiting our understanding of their functional capabilities. By coupling monosynaptic rabies tracing with intersectional genetic targeting in male and female mice, we found that VTA VGluT2+VGaT+ neurons received diverse brainwide inputs. The largest numbers of monosynaptic inputs to VTA VGluT2+VGaT+ neurons were from superior colliculus (SC), lateral hypothalamus (LH), midbrain reticular nucleus, and periaqueductal gray, whereas the densest inputs relative to brain region volume were from the dorsal raphe nucleus, lateral habenula, and VTA. Based on these and prior data, we hypothesized that LH and SC inputs were from glutamatergic neurons. Optical activation of glutamatergic LH neurons activated VTA VGluT2 +VGaT+ neurons regardless of stimulation frequency and resulted in flee-like ambulatory behavior. In contrast, optical activation of glutamatergic SC neurons activated VTA VGluT2+VGaT+ neurons for a brief period of time at high frequency and resulted in head rotation and arrested ambulatory behavior (freezing). Stimulation of glutamatergic LH neurons, but not glutamatergic SC neurons, was associated with VTA VGluT2+VGaT+ footshock-induced activity and inhibition of LH glutamatergic neurons disrupted VTA VGluT2+VGaT+ tailshock-induced activity. We interpret these results such that inputs to VTA VGluT2+VGaT+ neurons may integrate diverse signals related to the detection and processing of motivationally salient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We use a survey experiment to study what explains white "not in my backyard" opposition (NIMBYism) to dense and affordable housing—racial threat, material self‐interest, or both. Methods: In a survey experiment on white U.S. respondents, we vary the presence of a racial prime about black and Latinx community organizations and the proximity of the housing development to the subject's home. We then measure levels of support for a proposed hypothetical housing development, willingness to take political action in support of or opposition to the development, and support for a number of housing‐related and redistributive policies. Results: We find that a racial threat, a material self‐interest threat, and a combined racial and material self‐interest threat decrease support for a proposed housing development. These effects are moderated by racial resentment, ideology, and partisanship such that the effects of the treatments are primarily driven by Republicans, conservatives, and the highly racially resentful. These groups are more threatened than others by either Latinx and black people moving in, the development being in their own neighborhood, or both. Conclusion: These findings indicate that racial and material perceived threats play important and interlocking roles in white Americans' resistance to multifamily housing being built. In a context where local political institutions empower an unrepresentative group of disproportionately white, economically privileged neighbors to mount opposition to dense housing, it is important to understand how white opposition to new dense housing is shaped by racial and financial concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Police officers' use of force (UoF) has traditionally been understood vis-à-vis subject resistance, but researchers have recently argued for a greater emphasis on subject threat. We examine the role of static and dynamic threat measures, consisting of indicators for ability, opportunity, and intent, in police UoF while accounting for subject resistance. Data and Methods: We use data from a large multiagency sample of coded police force narratives and a series of multilevel models that nest temporally ordered force sequences (dyadic exchanges between officers and subjects) within their respective UoF incidents. Results: Our results suggest that (1) police force incidents are dynamic with levels of force and resistance often fluctuating throughout the incident, (2) each element of subject threat significantly predicts force, net of resistance and other variables, and (3) the elements of threat interact with one another to explain force, but not completely as expected. Conclusions: Our results suggest that subject threat, in addition to resistance, provides important insights for understanding when officers either use or escalate force. We conclude with suggestions for those interested in further exploring the intersection of threat, resistance, and police UoF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Methods Results Conclusions The mechanisms linking early‐life adversity with psychopathology over the life‐course are complex. In this prospective study, we collectively examined cognitive, affective, and developmental mediators previously found to individually link childhood threat and deprivation experiences to adolescent psychopathology to identify the most potent mechanisms.Data came from a community sample of 227 children (mean child age 11.5 ± 0.5 years, 48.5% female) from the Seattle metro area with recruitment designed to reflect diversity in family income. Candidate mechanisms included self‐rated pubertal development and task‐measured attention bias to threat, emotion regulation, theory of mind, fear learning, inhibitory control, language ability, reasoning, and reward sensitivity. Using a high‐dimensional mediation approach, we determined which mediating pathways linking threat and deprivation to psychopathology persisted after controlling for all candidate mechanisms associated with psychopathology. Models additionally controlled for the child's age, sex, early‐childhood emotional and behavioral symptoms, poverty, and maternal depression.Blunted reward sensitivity mediated the prospective relationship between threat and internalizing psychopathology, explaining 17.25% (95% CI 1.08%, 69.96%) of this association. Advanced pubertal development was associated with increases in internalizing and externalizing symptoms (standardized associations of 0.16 (95% CI 0.03, 0.29) and 0.17 (95% CI 0.05, 0.29), respectively), but not with adversity. Although deprivation was strongly related to psychopathology, no mechanisms were empirically identified.In a well‐characterized community sample, we isolated reward sensitivity as a robust mediator of the prospective association between early‐life threat and adolescent internalizing psychopathology. Interventions aimed at bolstering reward sensitivity may mitigate the impact of early‐life threat experiences on internalizing problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2016, the World Health Assembly endorsed the Global Health Sector Strategy (GHSS) on viral hepatitis 2016–2021, calling for the elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. Using the 2015 data as the baseline, the main targets are to reduce annual new infections and deaths by 90% and 65%, respectively, and to increase the diagnosis rate and the treatment rate of eligible people to 90% and 80%, respectively. However, the definitions and calculations of the above targets are not standardized, and there are inconsistencies between different literatures, affecting the accuracy and consistency of the results. The targets mainly focus on chronic HBV and HCV infections. According to the relevant literatures, it is speculated that the base number for new cases of chronic HBV and HCV infections in 2015 should be 3.5 to 5.15 million, rather than 6 to 10 million, with new HBV and HCV infections being 1.7 to 3.4 million and 1.75 million, respectively. From the perspectives of intuition, simplicity, and habit, the diagnosis rate and treatment rate are suitable for being expressed as "rate", but annual new infections (rate) and deaths (rate) should be expressed as "number" or "case". The method of calculating the treatment rate also needs to be unified. Different countries/regions have different treatment indications, and different authors have different understandings, which affects the comparability of treatment rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When faced with danger, human beings respond with a repertoire of defensive behaviors, including freezing and active avoidance. Previous research has revealed a pattern of physiological responses, characterized by heart rate bradycardia, reduced visual exploration, and heightened sympathetic arousal in reaction to avoidable threats, suggesting a state of attentive immobility in humans. However, the electrocortical underpinnings of these behaviors remain largely unexplored. To investigate the visuocortical components of attentive immobility, we recorded parieto-occipital alpha activity, along with eye movements and autonomic responses, while participants awaited either an avoidable, inevitable, or no threat. To test the robustness and generalizability of our findings, we collected data from a total of 101 participants (76 females, 25 males) at two laboratories. Across sites, we observed an enhanced suppression of parieto-occipital alpha activity during avoidable threats, in contrast to inevitable or no threat trials, particularly toward the end of the trial that prompted avoidance responses. This response pattern coincided with heart rate bradycardia, centralization of gaze, and increased sympathetic arousal. Furthermore, our findings expand on previous research by revealing that the amount of alpha suppression, along with centralization of gaze, and heart rate changes predict the speed of motor responses. Collectively, these findings indicate that when individuals encounter avoidable threats, they enter a state of attentive immobility, which enhances perceptual processing and facilitates action preparation. This state appears to reflect freezing-like behavior in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A vast range of neurophysiological, neuropsychological and behavioural results in monkeys and humans have shown that the immediate surroundings of the body, also known as peripersonal space (PPS), are processed in a unique way. Three roles have been ascribed to PPS mechanisms: to react to threats, to avoid obstacles and to act on objects. However, in many circumstances, one does not wait for objects or agents to enter PPS to plan these behaviours. Typically, one has more chances to survive if one starts running away from the lion when one sees it in the distance than if it is a few steps away. PPS makes sense in shortsighted creatures but we are not such creatures. The crucial question is thus twofold: (i) why are these adaptive processes triggered only at the last second or even milliseconds? And (ii) what is their exact contribution, especially for defensive and navigational behaviours? Here, we propose that PPS mechanisms correspond to a plan B, useful in unpredictable situations or when other anticipatory mechanisms have failed. Furthermore, we argue that there are energetic, cognitive and behavioural costs to PPS mechanisms, which explain why this plan B is triggered only at the last second. This article is part of the theme issue 'Minds in movement: embodied cognition in the age of artificial intelligence'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many birds use wetland habitats for all or part of their lives. This study was conducted to investigate the significance of wetlands and associated habitats for bird conservation in the central zone of Tigray, northern Ethiopia, from June 2022 to May 2023. The point count method was used to study the bird assemblage structure and diversity. The Shannon–Wiener diversity index and ANOVA were used to analyze the wetland bird community structure. A total of 4337 individual birds belonging to 120 species, 15 orders, and 41 families were recorded. Among the identified bird species, the Abyssinian catbird, white‐winged cliff chat, Abyssinian longclaw, wattled ibis, and black‐winged lovebird are endemic and near‐endemic species, which are found only in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Passeriformes order had the greatest number of species (n = 68), followed by the Columbiformes order (n = 9). The​ Mai‐Shigurti Wetland had the greatest abundance of birds (N = 2472), while the Hatsebo Wetland had the least (N = 936). A high abundance of birds was recorded during the wet season (N = 2805), and a low abundance was recorded during the dry season (N = 1532). A significant difference in the abundance of bird species was observed among wetlands and seasons (p < 0.05). The highest species diversity (H′ = 4.13) was recorded in Mai‐Shigurti during the wet season, whereas the lowest was recorded in Hatsebo during the dry season (H′ = 3.2). The highest species evenness was recorded in Hatsebo (E = 0.82) during the dry season, and the lowest was recorded in Mai‐Shigurti (E = 0.72) during the wet season. The results show that wetlands support a high diversity of birds; however, they are highly threatened by anthropogenic threats, including solid waste disposal, erosion, agricultural expansion, human settlement, livestock overgrazing, military camping, and eucalyptus cultivation. Therefore, community‐based conservation initiatives should be implemented to mitigate these threats. Moreover, wetland management policies should be established to safeguard wetlands and their biological resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying as a feminist and endorsing liberal feminist values are associated with positive attitudes toward trans* people and their rights. However, since the late 1970s, one branch of radical feminism has argued for a biological essentialist definition of binary gender categories. More recently gender-critical feminism has appealed to radical feminism when describing trans* rights as a threat to biologically-defined women's politics and safety. To understand debates around the evolution of trans* rights, three studies (N = 502), examined the associations between diverse feminist perspectives and identifications, gender binary beliefs, and attitudes toward trans* people and their rights. Study 1 updated an existing measure of different feminist perspectives. Study 2 showed that endorsements of intersectional, and radical feminist perspectives were associated with positive attitudes toward trans* people and their rights. Study 3 revealed that both intersectional and radical feminist identifications were also associated with positive attitudes, whilst endorsing gender binary beliefs was associated with negative attitudes. These results challenge the assumption that support for trans* rights is inconsistent with either general feminist or specifically radical feminist positions and inform both debates around the evolution of trans* rights and existing tensions within feminist movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to flexibly transition between defensive states is crucial for adaptive responding in life‐threatening situations. Potentially threatening situations typically induce a sustained feeling of apprehension in association with hypervigilance, while acute threat is usually characterized by an intense and transient response to cope with the imminent danger. While potential and acute threat states have traditionally been viewed as mutually exclusive, this distinction is being challenged by a growing body of evidence suggesting a more complex interplay during simultaneous activation of these states. However, the interaction between potential and acute threat on a psychophysiological level remains elusive. To fill this gap, 94 healthy individuals participated in one of two contextual fear‐conditioning paradigms. In both paradigms, a differential fear‐learning phase was conducted, followed by a test phase in which the conditioned stimuli were presented in front of either conditioned or inherently aversive contextual images compared to neutral contexts. To capture defensive responses, we recorded subjective (threat and expectancy ratings) and physiological (electrodermal and cardiovascular) activity to the conditioned stimuli as a function of contextual threat. Besides indices of successful fear conditioning, our results revealed stronger threat and unconditioned stimulus expectancy ratings, cardiac deceleration, and skin conductance responses for threat and safety cues presented in inherently aversive compared to neutral contexts. Conditioned contexts had less impact on physiological responses to threat and safety cues than inherently aversive contexts. These findings provide new insights into the additive nature of defensive responses to fear cues and situations of contextual threat. Recent research challenges the idea that defensive states induced by potential and acute threat are mutually exclusive. In this study, we observed enhanced defensive responses to acute threat stimuli during aversive contexts as indexed by heart rate and skin conductance responses, indicating an interplay between potential and acute threat states that is influenced by contextual threat levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the historical and current contexts of threat assessment and violence risk in higher education, highlighting the evolving roles of college counseling centers in the threat assessment process for students displaying signs of concerning behaviors. Given research showing many college mental health professionals feel under-prepared for this work, we build foundational knowledge about the differing purposes of psychological evaluations and threat assessments, and provide recommendations for ways to continue to build and demonstrate understanding, competency and proficiency with threat assessments... Our review shares recent updates in the field regarding high-risk groups and the use of AI in assessment, and highlights the need for more attention to be given to training community members as well as counseling center staff and other members of campus teams involved in decision-making about students who threaten violence. We recommend the deliberate practice model of skill building to better prepare college mental health professionals when needing to respond under stress and pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policy addressing biodiversity loss is most likely to be effective when it is informed by appropriate evidence and considers potential unintended consequences. We evaluate key evidence relating to the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill that was discussed in the UK Parliament between 2022 and 2024. We characterize the UK's role in international hunting trophy trade by analyzing CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) trade data for 2000–2021 and 2015–2021. For CITES‐listed species imported to/exported from the UK as hunting trophies in these periods we use data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species to determine whether hunting designated as "trophy hunting" is (i) likely a major threat contributing to species being of elevated conservation concern, (ii) likely or possibly causing localized declines, or (iii) not a threat. We then use the Red List to determine whether such hunting provides, or potentially provides, benefits for species and/or people. Finally, we evaluate the UK Government's impact assessment of the bill. In 2000–2021 an estimated 3494 hunting trophies from 73 CITES‐listed species and subspecies were exported to the UK involving an estimated 2549 whole organism equivalents (WOEs), that is, individual animals. Imports involved 158.86 ± 66.53 (mean ± SD) trophies/year (115.83 ± 32.27 WOEs/year). In 2015–2021, 79% of imports were from countries where populations of the hunted species are stable, increasing, or abundant. Legal hunting for trophies is not a major threat to any of the species or subspecies imported to the UK, but likely or possibly represents a local threat to some populations of eight species. This hunting does, or could potentially, benefit 20 species and subspecies, and people. Among other concerns, the impact assessment failed to adequately consider the costs and benefits to local communities in countries where such hunting occurs. Informed by these analyses we discuss alternative regulatory options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased openness and tolerance have marked the twenty‐first century, yet recent years witnessed a decline marked by nationalist movements and reduced support for diversity. We explore the potential link between these two societal changes by examining the association between the perception of universalism values in society and the endorsement of conservation values, right‐wing political attitudes, and nationalism in Poland. Across six correlational studies (total N = 2644), perception of the prevalence of universalism values in fellow citizens was positively linked to one's endorsement of conservation values, right‐wing political attitudes, and nationalism. These links were (a) stronger when participants believed that a considerable part of society still supported conservation values and (b) underlined by a greater perception of the threat posed by universalism values to the traditional way of living. The experimental results (N = 307) did not support causal link between these links but only the underlying role of perceiving a threat from universalism to society, particularly when participants perceived high universalism and conservation values in others. However, this effect was observed only when controlling for one's endorsement of conservation values and the perception of threat from conservation values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends the diffusion of innovations theory by considering the threat of technology and examining the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace over time from a dynamic, differential-effects perspective. Findings from a three-wave survey study reveal an association between the threat of AI (i.e., job security concerns) and increasingly negative attitudes toward AI adoption among employees over time. Relative advantage, compatibility, and observability correlated with more positive attitudes, whereas ease of use and trialability showed no significant association. In testing the differential effects on attitudes toward AI adoption among different groups of potential adopters, we found that trialability positively influenced attitudes only among employees who held a positive attitude previously. Observability and the threat of AI, however, were more influential among employees who held a negative attitude previously. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anxiety prepares us to deal with unpredictable threats, such as the approaching of an unknown person. Studies have shown our innate tendency to see approaching motion in ambiguous walkers in what was termed facing-the-viewer (FTV) bias. Here we investigated if anxiety states further contributed to this bias, hypothesizing that such states would increase overall FTV biases. Throughout three Experiments, we asked participants to judge the motion direction of ambiguous point-light walkers and measured their respective FTV biases under safe and anxiety-related conditions induced via imagery (Experiment 1), screaming sounds (Experiment 2), and threat of shock (Experiment 3). Across all experiments, we showed that anxiety does not affect our tendency to perceive an approaching behavior in ambiguous walkers. Based on our findings, and the discrepancies found in the literature, we emphasize the need for future studies to paint a clearer picture on the nature and aspects capable of affecting this bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that curiosity plays a crucial role in human performance and well-being. Based on multi-dimensional models of curiosity, we examined potential underlying mechanisms for this relationship. Extending prior research, we expected state and trait variants of curiosity to predict more challenge and less threat appraisals for novel tasks (i.e., joyous exploration dimension), stronger dissatisfaction when denied opportunities to do something interesting (i.e., deprivation sensitivity dimension), and persist longer under stress states (i.e., stress tolerance). We asked 123 participants to prepare and deliver a speech titled "Why are you a good friend?" After preparation, participants were informed that they were randomly selected not to perform the task. Throughout the experiment, we recorded heart rate reactivity as a physiological indicator of task engagement. We found that individuals curious about the upcoming task felt more challenged, less threatened, and presented longer physiological engagement than less curious individuals. Curious individuals expressed more disappointment about the missed opportunity to deliver the speech. In summary, this study revealed theoretically derived mechanisms that partially account for associations between curiosity and positive life outcomes while also indicating adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals living and working in dangerous settings (e.g., first responders and military personnel) make complex decisions amidst serious threats. However, controlled studies on decision-making under threat are limited given obvious ethical concerns. Here, we embed a complex decision-making task within a threatening, immersive virtual environment. Based on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a paradigm widely used to study complex decision-making, the task requires participants to make a series of choices to escape a collapsing building. In Study 1 we demonstrate that, as with the traditional IGT, participants learn to make advantageous decisions over time and that their behavioural data can be described by reinforcement-learning based computational models. In Study 2 we created threatening and neutral versions of the environment. In the threat condition, participants performed worse, taking longer to improve from baseline and scoring lower through the final trials. Computational modelling further revealed that participants in the threat condition were more responsive to short term rewards and less likely to perseverate on a given choice. These findings suggest that when threat is integral to decision-making, individuals make more erratic choices and focus on short term gains. They furthermore demonstrate the utility of virtual environments for making threat integral to cognitive tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing prevalence of threats and violence against ambulance clinicians is a critical issue that has not been adequately studied. These incidents pose significant challenges to the provision of prehospital emergency care, affecting both the safety and well-being of the clinicians involved. This study aimed to explore the experiences of Swedish ambulance clinicians when encountering threats and violence during their work. A qualitative approach was used, involving semi-structured interviews with 11 ambulance clinicians from various regions of Sweden. The participants were selected to ensure diversity in gender, age, and educational background. The data were collected over three weeks in 2021 and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The analysis revealed three key categories related to the challenges faced by ambulance clinicians: Police cooperation challenges, Strategies for a safe care environment, and Impact during and relief after stressful events. These categories highlight the complexities of managing threats and violence in the field. This study sheds light on the multifaceted challenges that ambulance clinicians face due to threats and violence. It underscores the urgent need for comprehensive training, effective communication, and clear role allocation in complex situations. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of organized support systems to help clinicians cope with the aftermath of stressful events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIntroductionMethodsResultsDiscussionConditioned pain modulation (CPM) allows to investigate endogenous pain modulation and its clinical outcomes. Although co-activation of emotions has been shown to affect CPM, the impact of ‘threat,’ which may accompany CPM stimulation itself, has been mostly neglected. A critical factor for the threat level of the conditioning stimulus (CS) may be its predictability.38 healthy participants (18 female) took part in a CPM study with pressure stimulation on the leg (blood-pressure cuff) serving as CS and heat stimulation on the forearm (contact thermode; CHEPS) serving as test stimulus (TS). While CS varied in intensity and –as operationalisation of threat– in temporary predictability, TS was kept constant. CPM effects were studied by EEG parameters (N2P2) and pain ratings.We found a significant CPM effect when considering N2P2, with low CS predictability augmenting CPM inhibition; in contrast, a surprisingly facilitatory CPM effect occurred in pain ratings (in the high CS predictability condition). The threat manipulation was only partially successful because CS intensity increased the threat ratings but not -as intended- CS predictability. Correlations between subjective and psychophysiological CPM responses were low.The differing CPM effects in subjective and psychophysiological responses, with both inhibitory and facilitatory effects, is puzzling but has already been observed earlier. The consideration of the CPM stimulation as major threat that is emotionally active is theoretically clearly justifiable but the operationalisation by means of different levels of CS predictability as in the present study might not have been ideal. Thus, further attempts of experimental verification are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines a cohort of persons aged 14 to 25 years referred to a threat assessment centre in Australia due to concerns regarding their potential for extremist or other grievance-fuelled violence. It examines the demographic features, clinical comorbidities and threat profile of this cohort and compares cases with and without a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The findings suggest that young people with ASD are significantly overrepresented, compared to the population rate, with late diagnosis and complex, unmet needs. The services required to mitigate risk were predominantly mainstream disability and mental health programs, not specialised forensic interventions. These exploratory findings have broader implications for improved provision of autism-specific services to prevent this vulnerable group entering the justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatozoonosis has been reported in many species around the world. Few incidences have been reported in various species of wild felids. Tigers are endangered large cats and are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 under Schedule I. The study was carried out to estimate the positivity rate of hepatozoonosis in tigers of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India. Methods: Blood (n = 21) or tissue samples (n = 5) were collected from 26 wild captured / zoo-born or dead tigers during the quarantine period/post-mortem examination. Blood smear examination along with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) studies were conducted for the detection of hepatozoonosis. All the amplicons from the positive samples were purified and sequenced, and the sequences were subjected to nBLAST analysis to detect the species of Hepatozoon. The sequences were deposited into public domain database of National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and accession numbers were allotted. A phylogenetic study was undertaken to understand the evolutionary lineage of the pathogen. Tissue distribution studies were carried out on tissue samples received during post mortem. A clinical case in a tiger cub was managed and sub-clinical cases were monitored for relapse. Age-wise, sex-wise, region-wise and captive time-wise positivity rate was estimated. The data was analyzed using statistical tools. Results: A total of 12 tigers were found positive for H. felis during the screening. A clinical case was diagnosed and successfully treated. The age group of 0–3 years reported a positivity rate of 66.66%, and all the cases found positive were reported between the age group of 0–7 years. Males reported a positivity rate of 58.33 per cent, while females reported 35.71%. Taboba and Andhari Tiger Reserve of the state had a positivity rate of 52.94 per cent. However, the statistical analysis for blood parameters and positivity rate by 't' test and Chi-squared test were found to be non-significant. Conclusions: An overall positivity rate of 46.15% indicates the wide distribution of hepatozoonosis among wild tigers of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India, which is strategically important considering the gene flow and migration of tigers. Hepatozoonosis can progress to clinical outcomes in young animals and require veterinary intervention. Molecular tools and phylogenetic studies can supplement important data on circulating species of Hepatozoon in the field. Further studies on the clinical management and epidemiology of the infection in wild felids will comprehend the cause of wildlife conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duress, which in principle can invalidate a contract, is recognized in both civil and common law systems. In Rwanda, while duress is addressed under the law on contracts, the Rwandan law lacks a precise definition of it, leading to potential inconsistencies in its application. This paper explores the conceptual ambiguities in Rwandan contract law regarding duress, specifically whether it must be physical or not, whether it must necessarily arise from an illegitimate act, and whether it can be exerted by or to third parties. Through a normative approach, the paper focusses exclusively on contractual duress and seeks to illuminate these grey areas by examining Rwandan legal texts, judicial precedents, and insights from other jurisdictions. The goal is to provide a clearer framework for understanding and applying the concept of duress in Rwandan contract law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having a strong attachment to Europe might be crucial in understanding support for policies affecting ethnic minorities and migrants arriving in Europe. However, research examining this link is limited. In 4 out of 5 studies (N = 1,469), including correlational and experimental data, we found that greater European attachment was associated with support for restrictive policies such as border closures or increased security. These relationships were consistently explained by higher perceptions of realistic threat. European attachment did not show a significant association with support for inclusive policies such as those promoting the integration of cultural diversity or granting rights to minorities, in 4 out of 5 studies. However, meta-analytical integration of the data revealed a significant averaged indirect relationship: European attachment was associated with less support for inclusive policies via increased realistic threat. We discuss these findings while considering the sociopolitical context and the practical implications for Europe's commitment to human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative attitudes/beliefs surrounding osteoarthritis, pain, and activity contribute to reduced physical activity in people with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). These attitudes/beliefs are assessed using self-report questionnaires, relying on information one is consciously aware of and willing to disclose. Automatic (ie, implicit) assessment of attitudes does not rely on conscious reflection and may identify features unique from self-report. We developed an implicit association test that explored associations between images of a person moving/twisting their knee (activity) or sitting/standing (rest), and perceived threat (safe vs dangerous). We hypothesised that people with KOA would have greater implicit threat-activity associations (vs pain-free and non-knee pain controls), with implicit attitudes only weakly correlating with self-reported measures (pain knowledge, osteoarthritis/pain/activity beliefs, fear of movement). Participants (n = 558) completed an online survey: 223 had painful KOA(n = 157 female, 64.5 ± 8.9 years); 207 were pain free (n = 157 female, 49.3 ± 15.3 years); and 99 had non-KOA lower limb pain (n = 74 female, 47.5 ± 15.04 years). An implicit association between "danger" and "activity" was present in those with and without limb pain (KOA: 0.36,95% CI 0.28-0.44; pain free: 0.13,95% CI 0.04-0.22; non-KOA lower limb pain 0.11, 95% CI -0.03 to 0.24) but was significantly greater in the KOA group than in the pain free (P < 0.001) and non-KOA lower limb pain (P = 0.004) groups. Correlations between implicit and self-reported measures were nonsignificant or weak (rho = -0.29 to 0.19, P < 0.001 to P = 0.767). People with painful KOA hold heightened implicit threat-activity associations, capturing information unique to that from self-report questionnaires. Evaluating links between implicit threat-activity associations and real-world behaviour, including physical activity levels, is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1993, the British Journal of Clinical Psychology published my paper titled 'Defence and safety: Their function in social behaviour and psychopathology'. The paper highlights that to understand people's sensitivity to threat, we also need to understand their ability to identify what is safe. This paper offers an update on these concepts, highlighting distinctions that were implicit but not clearly defined at the time. Hence, the paper seeks to clarify distinctions between: (i) threat detection and response, (ii) safety and safety seeking, (iii) safeness and (iv) their social and non‐social functions and forms. Threat detection and response are to prevent or minimize harm (e.g., run from a predator or fire). Safety checking relates to monitoring for the absence and avoidance of threat, while safety seeking links to the destination of the defensive behaviour (e.g., running home). Safety seeking also relates to maintaining vigilance to the appearance of potential harms and doing things believed to avoid harm. Threat‐defending and safety checking and seeking are regulated primarily through evolved threat processing systems that monitor the nature, presence, controllability and/or absence of threat (e.g., amygdala and sympathetic nervous system). Safeness uses different monitoring systems via different psychophysiological systems (e.g., prefrontal cortex, parasympathetic system) for the presence of internal and external resources that support threat‐coping, risk‐taking, resource exploration. Creating brain states that recruit safeness processing can impact how standard evidence‐based therapies (e.g., exposure, distress tolerance and reappraisal) are experienced and produce long‐term change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with later cognitive decline. However, the mechanisms underlying the effects of different types of ACEs are unclear. This study examined how ACEs impact cognitive function, specifically deprivation-related ACEs (DrACEs) and threat-related ACEs (TrACEs). Additionally, we explored the potential role of cognitive reserve (CR) and depression in these relationships. Data were taken from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) of 2014 and 2020. CR, depressive symptoms and cognitive function measures were collected from 2020. ACEs were assessed at the 2014 Life Course Survey. The main analyses included 7113 participants aged 45 years or older. To explore potential associations, linear regression and SPSS Macro PROCESS were employed. Among middle-aged and older adults, only exposure to DrACEs was associated with cognitive function ((β = −0.101 [95% CI : −0.150, −0.052]) for DrACEs = 1; (β = −0.250 [95% CI : −0.333, −0.167]) for DrACEs ≥ 2). The indirect effects mediated by CR and depressive symptoms were statistically significant. The use of retrospective self-reported data for ACEs may introduce recall bias. Chinese middle-aged and older adults who have experienced DrACEs exhibit poorer cognitive function, while the association between TrACEs and cognitive function was not significant. And the impact of DrACEs on cognitive function was mediated by CR and depressive symptoms. Further research is necessary to validate our findings, establish causal links, and uncover the underlying mechanisms involved. • Deprivation-related adverse childhood experiences led to lower cognitive function in later life. • Threat-related experiences had no significant impact on cognitive function in later life. • The impact of deprivation was mediated by cognitive reserve and depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies examining behavioural responses to emotional stimuli usually report one of two patterns of responses to negative stimuli. Some studies find faster responses to negative material. Other studies find slower responses to negative stimuli. While the attentional mechanisms proposed to explain these findings (attentional capture in the former case, delayed disengagement in the latter) are not at odds with one another, the behavioural findings do need to be reconciled. We posit that arousal, being the primary differentiator of threatening and nonthreatening stimuli, needs to be more carefully considered. To this end, two experiments were conducted evaluating the role of stimulus arousal and valence in the processing of schematic emotional faces. In Experiment 1, stimulus arousal was manipulated via the presence or absence of eyebrows in the schematic faces in a faces flanker task. Results showed faster responses to faces with eyebrows but no differences in the faces flanker asymmetry between faces with and without eyebrows. In Experiment 2, participants rated the faces on an evaluative space grid. Results showed the presence of the eyebrows had a greater impact on negative ratings for negative faces than for the other expressions. This suggests that stimulus valence and arousal were manipulated by the eyebrows and the reaction time differences could not be attributed purely to perceptual differences. Together these results suggests that both valence and arousal impact the processing of emotional schematic faces, and that these effects are dissociable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interpretation biases are a form of cognitive bias in which ambiguous information is resolved in a consistent manner; threat-related interpretation biases are documented across a range of psychiatric disorders. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is the tendency to perceive uncertainty as threatening. Despite the relevance of IU to threat-related interpretation biases, relatively little work has examined the associations between these constructs, particularly in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Method: This study examined the associations between IU, PTSD, and threat-related interpretation biases among 342 trauma-exposed adults (n = 156; 45.6% with provisional PTSD). Participants completed an online survey, including the Prospective IU and Inhibitory IU subscales of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12 (IUS-12), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and the Interpretation Bias Index for PTSD (IBIP). Responses to the IBIP were summed to capture explicit biases (i.e., the extent to which ambiguous sentences were perceived as threatening). Additionally, timing data were collected and used as an exploratory metric of implicit biases (i.e., the speed with which participants resolved threat-related ambiguity). Results: PTSD symptom severity was associated with both explicit and implicit threat biases. Prospective and inhibitory IU were each robustly associated with explicit threat biases, whereas only inhibitory IU was associated with implicit biases toward threat. Conclusions: Results indicate that PTSD symptoms and IU are each associated with threat-related interpretation biases among trauma-exposed individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Justification-Suppression Model posits that people are motivated to justify their prejudice-driven treatment of others with a nonprejudiced cause. Notably, individuals have utilized COVID-19—related stress to justify their assaults on Chinese people. We examined factors that might predict people employing similar pandemic-related stress attributions to justify another person's assault of a Chinese individual which could, in turn, predict diminished support for punishing the perpetrator. Specifically, we explored the role of pathogenic threat given its well-documented tendency to elevate outgroup-directed prejudice. Participants reported their feelings of COVID-19-related threat and read about a COVID-19—related assault. They then reported the extent they believed the perpetrator committed the assault due to COVID-19-related stress (viz., pandemic stress attributions) and their support for perpetrator-directed legal sanctions. In Study 1, we varied victim ethnicity (i.e., Chinese, White). In Study 2, we varied the degree of ethnic identification (i.e., strong, weak) for the Chinese victim. In Study 1, higher COVID-19-related threat predicted greater pandemic stress attributions when the victim was Chinese (but not White). For Study 2, higher COVID-19-related threat predicted greater pandemic stress attributions for victims strongly (but not weakly) identified with their Chinese ethnicity. Across both studies, heightened pandemic stress attributions predicted reduced support for legal sanctions. Pathogenic threat was linked to motivated processes (i.e., pandemic stress attributions) that predicted diminished societal support for punishing those who assaulted Chinese people. This pattern of findings did not occur when the victim showed weak ethnic identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dysregulation of fear processing through altered sensitivity to threat is thought to contribute to the development of anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder (MDD). However, fewer studies have examined fear processing in MDD than in anxiety disorders. The current study used propensity matching to examine the hypothesis that comorbid MDD and anxiety (AnxMDD) shows greater neural correlates of fear processing than MDD, suggesting that the co-occurrence of AnxMDD is exemplified by exaggerated defense related processes. 195 individuals with MDD (N = 65) or AnxMDD (N = 130) were recruited from the community and completed multi-level assessments, including a Pavlovian fear learning task during functional imaging. Visual images paired with threat (conditioned stimuli: CS+) were compared to stimuli not paired with threat (CS-). MDD and AnxMDD showed significantly different patterns of activation for CS+ vs CS- in the dorsal anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus (partial eta squared; ηp2 = 0.02), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (ηp2 = 0.01) and dorsal anterior/mid cingulate cortex (ηp2 = 0.01). These differences were driven by greater activation to the CS+ in AnxMDD versus MDD. Limitations include the cross-sectional design, a scream US rather than shock and half the number of MDD as AnxMDD participants. AnxMDD showed a pattern of increased activation in regions identified with fear processing. Effects were consistently driven by threat, further suggesting fear signaling as the emergent target process. Differences emerged in regions associated with salience processing, attentional orienting/conflict, self-relevant processing and executive functioning in comorbid anxiety and depression, thereby highlighting potential treatment targets for this prevalent and treatment resistant group. • Few studies examine differences between anxious- and non-anxious depression. • Neural responses during fear conditioning were recorded in these groups. • Groups showed differential activation in insular, cingulate, and prefrontal regions. • Differences were driven by greater reactivity to the CS+ in anxious depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do political and economic rivalries promote interracial killings in 21st-century America? This article examines the determinants of disaggregated interracial killings in 1,381 U.S. counties by testing conflict-based accounts in an era of economic recession and unprecedented Black political mobilization. Results show that one dimension of racial conflict—political competition—is linked to interracial killings. Counties with mounting interracial rivalry in the political domain are significantly more likely to experience White perpetrated killings of Black residents and less likely to experience Black-on-White homicide offending. These results suggest that contests for political influence lead to greater interracial violence involving White perpetrators and Black victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For social species, having strong and high-quality social relationships is an important safety cue. Loneliness occurs when an individual perceives they have insufficient relationships resulting in feelings of lack of safety. States of perceived unsafety are linked to an increased tendency to construe ambiguous information – information lacking a unique clear interpretation – as threatening. Here, we explore whether the ambiguity of social cues of interpersonal rejection moderates effects of loneliness on feelings of rejection while undergoing social exclusion. Data were collected in 2021; 144 adults completed a progressive social exclusion paradigm where they were randomly assigned to be equally included, excluded, or over-included. Social exclusion/inclusion cues became more pronounced over the course of multiple rounds of a ball-tossing game (Cyberball) resulting in a scenario where ambiguity was highest in earlier rounds and decreased over time. Participants reported feelings of loneliness prior to the task and feelings of rejection throughout the task. Results demonstrated that higher loneliness predicted increased feelings of rejection regardless of exclusion condition. Notably, this positive relationship was strongest during earlier rounds when social cues were most ambiguous. These findings contribute to our understanding of how loneliness modulates social perception to enable organisms to adequately adapt to changing circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I make two points about the role of threats for ethnographic fieldwork in contexts suffused by interpersonal violence. First, the experience of implicit and explicit threats operates as a powerful cultural agent that significantly transforms fieldworkers' relationship with the field. Second, subjecting oneself to threats can become a central component of the ethnographic immersion into the field. The notion of "threat wisdom" connects these two points by capturing the emerging competence to handle threats and resulting from "becoming threatened," "becoming threatful," and "becoming threat wise." To develop this argument, I discuss insights from my fieldwork with homeless people using cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, in Barcelona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central aim of the current study is to further the understanding of how therapists identify and understand erotic transference in therapy, and how they perceive it to influence the therapeutic processes and alliance. Answers were analyzed thematically using an open-coding analysis. A total of 116 therapists participated in the study reflecting on how erotic transference is experienced in the therapeutic setting. Data analysis yielded three main themes: (1) threat; (2) boundaries; and (3) growth. The threat theme included two subthemes: Threat to the therapeutic process and threat to the therapist’s professional-esteem. Growth also consisted of two subthemes: development of the therapist and opportunity for insight (into the inner world of the patient). The present study subscribes to the idea that erotic transference is a significant aspect of the therapeutic setting and, if addressed appropriately and more comprehensively, can have a great impact on the patient’s healing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As social animals, humans tend to voluntarily engage in pro-social behavior to prevent harm to others. However, to what extent prosocial behavior can be reflected at the level of less voluntary cognitive processes remains unclear. Here, we examined how threat to others modulates exogenous attention. Fifty-four participants performed an exogenous spatial cueing task where the participant’s performance determined whether electric shocks would be delivered either to themselves or to their anonymous co-participant. Threat of shock to the co-participant elicited orienting and reorienting responses that were faster than in the safe condition and did not differ from performance when participants avoided shocks to themselves. This attentional improvement was not due to speed-accuracy trade off and was associated with arousal, i.e., increased pupil dilation in both threat conditions. Together, these findings suggest that pro-social behavior triggers automatic attentional processes which may be relevant for providing immediate help without relying on reflexive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have suggested that owning a firearm for the purpose of protection and intending to acquire a firearm within the next year are associated with disrupted cognitive-affective processes that may increase firearm suicide risk. Prior studies were limited by self-report measures and would benefit from the utilization of objective indicators of cognitive functioning to clarify associations between firearm ownership and cognitive-affective states. The present study examined objective cognitive performance in a sample of U.S. adults in relation to firearm ownership variables. Based on prior studies, we hypothesized that protective owners and individuals with the intention to acquire a firearm within the next year would demonstrate reduced performance on decision-making, mental flexibility, and emotional bias tasks. A total of 112 participants (61% female, 79% white) completed objective cognitive tasks following completion of a larger survey study through ResearchMatch. Results indicated that intention to purchase a firearm within the next year was not associated with cognitive functioning but was associated with an array of heightened psychiatric symptoms. Owning a firearm for the purpose of protection was associated with decreased mental flexibility relative to non-owners, but no differences were seen for decision-making or emotional bias. These findings represent the first attempt to examine underlying objective cognitive processes related to firearm ownership, and implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assertion is the use of declarative sentences to convey information, which necessitates meeting the "justified-belief norm" as a prerequisite. However, a significant amount of misinformation that did not meet these conditions was spread during COVID-19, leading to a reintroduction of the assertion norm. One possible hypothesis is that the threatening content of the misinformation influenced the perception of the norm. However, this remains unclear to researchers. Therefore, we conducted two experiments to investigate the effect of threatening content in information on individuals' perceptions of norms. In all the experiments, participants read backstories with and without threatening content, followed by answering assertion questions. It was observed that people do follow a looser assertion norm for information that contains threatening content. Additionally, further exploration revealed that threatening factors also lead individuals to more easily perceive the related content as truth and reduce the probability of being blamed. These two outcomes provide some explanation for the underlying mechanism of threatening factors' influence. The research results further refined the theory of assertion norms, offering a certain basis for information management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 21st century, the diversification of communication and transportation opportunities has not only facilitated regular migration movements but also led to changes in the volume and dimensions of irregular migration. Migrants not only significantly influence the demographic, sociological, and economic structures of the countries they move to but have also become subjects of security concerns. Member countries of the European Union (EU) are targeted by migration movements due to attractive factors such as high living and working conditions, economic prosperity, and governance styles that respect human rights. Claims that migrants threaten the societal security of the EU by affecting its language, religion, cultural values, traditions, and national identities have become frequent topics of discussion in political and academic circles. In this regard, the main aim of the study is to determine whether migration poses a threat to the societal security of the EU or if such a perception exists in EU society. The findings indicate a strong perception in EU society that migration constitutes a threat to societal security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research suggests that disease outbreaks drive prejudice towards minorities as they increase economic and disease threats. Based on an open-ended survey question distributed to 7,902 German residents over the course of one year of the Covid-19 pandemic (April 2020 to April 2021), we investigate the link between life-threatening events and ethno-racial prejudice. We find that pandemic-related threats only drive respondents' tendency to scapegoat ethno-racial groups if they hold left and center leaning ideologies. However, for far-right supporters who are the most likely to attribute the spread of Covid-19 to ethno-racial groups, pandemic-related threats do not affect that attribution. We further find that threat theories are of limited relevance for explaining which ethno-racial groups are targeted: respondents held Chinese accountable at the beginning of the pandemic but quickly shifted their attention to immigrants – a salient figure in pre-Covid-19 rightist rhetoric. We show that ideology, more than pandemic-induced threat, continues to drive prejudice and demonstrate the under-utilized advantages of using open-ended survey questions for understanding the dynamics of intergroup prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A government's decision to communicate in a native tongue rather than a commonly used and understood but non-native language can prompt perception through an ethnically-tinted lens. While native-language communication is commonplace and typically benign, we argue that conveying a threat posed by an outgroup in a native tongue can trigger dehumanizing attitudes. We conducted a pre-registered survey experiment focusing on attitudes toward Muslim and Chinese people in India to test our expectations. In our two-stage design, we randomly assigned respondents to a survey language (Hindi or English) and, after that, to threat-provoking or control conditions. While Muslims and China are associated with recent violence against India, the government has routinely portrayed only the former as threatening. Likely due to this divergence, Hindi language assignment alone triggers Muslim dehumanization. Indians' more innocuous views of Chinese are responsive to exogenously-induced threat, particularly when conveyed in Hindi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of tolerance is widely embraced in plural contexts, but little is known about how majority members interpret the toleration of minorities. With four studies, we investigated majority group members' interpretations of a minority toleration situation (compared to full acceptance and discrimination situations) as a function of outgroup threat. Study 1 (N = 214) showed that higher perception of threat from Syrian refugees was associated with Turkish natives' stronger likelihood of interpreting a refugee toleration situation as 'acceptance'. Studies 2 (N = 161, threatening context: Syrian refugees‐Turkish natives) and 3 (N = 206, non‐threatening context: homosexuals‐liberal heterosexual students) demonstrated that toleration was interpreted more as a form of acceptance in a high‐threat context, whereas it was perceived more like discrimination in the non‐threatening context. Experimental Study 4 (N = 150, pre‐registered, Muslims‐Christians in the UK) indicated that increasing outgroup threat led to higher legitimization of toleration, which, in turn, related to lower support of minority rights. It is concluded that outgroup threat affects how people interpret the way in which minorities are treated, which has implications for initiatives and policies that try to stimulate tolerance towards minority groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freezing is one of the most extensively studied defensive behaviors in rodents. Both reduced body and gaze movements during anticipation of threat also occur in humans and have been discussed as translational indicators of freezing but their relationship remains unclear. We thus set out to elucidate body and eye movements and concomitant autonomic dynamics in anticipation of avoidable threat. Specifically, 50 participants viewed naturalistic pictures that were preceded by a colored fixation cross, signaling them whether to expect an inevitable (shock), no (safety), or a potential shock (flight) that could be avoided by a quick button press. Body sway, eye movements, the heart rate and skin conductance were recorded. We replicated previously described reductions in body sway, gaze dispersion, and the heart rate, and a skin conductance increase in flight trials. Stronger reductions in gaze but not in body sway predicted faster motor reactions on a trial‐wise basis, highlighting their functional role in action preparation. We failed to find a trait‐like relationship between body and gaze movements across participants, but their temporal profiles were positively related within individuals, suggesting that both metrics partly reflect the same construct. However, future research is desirable to assess these response patterns in naturalistic environments. A more ethological examination of different movement dynamics upon threat would not only warrant better comparability between rodent and human research but also help determine whether and how eye‐tracking could be implemented as a proxy for fear‐related movements in restricted brain imaging environments. Our article unravels the relationship between body and eye movements in human threat anticipation, drawing parallels with freezing behavior in rodents. We reveal a physio‐behavioral defensive state, emphasize eye‐tracking's potential in neuroimaging, and spotlight the need for improved translational research practices across species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of unpredictable threat, rapid processing of external events and behavioral mobilization through early psychophysiological responses are crucial for survival. While unpredictable threat generally enhances early processing, it would seem adaptive to particularly increase sensitivity for unexpected events as they may signal danger. To examine this possibility, n = 77 participants performed an auditory oddball paradigm and received unpredictable shocks in threat but not in safe contexts while a stream of frequent (standard) and infrequent (deviant) tones was presented. We assessed event‐related potentials (ERP), heart period (HP), and time‐lagged within‐subject correlations of single‐trial EEG and HP (cardio‐EEG covariance tracing, CECT) time‐locked to the tones. N1 and P2 ERP amplitudes were generally enhanced under threat. The P3 amplitude was enhanced to deviants versus standards and this effect was reduced in the threat condition. Regarding HP, both threat versus safe and unexpected versus expected tones led to stronger cardiac acceleration, suggesting separate effects of threat and stimulus expectancy on HP. Finally, CECTs revealed two correlation clusters, indicating that single‐trial EEG magnitudes in the N1/P2 and P3 time‐windows predicted subsequent cardiac acceleration. The current results show that an unpredictable threat context enhances N1 and P2 amplitudes and cardiac acceleration to benign auditory stimuli. They further suggest separable cortical correlates of different effects on cardiac activity: an early N1/P2 correlate associated with threat‐effects on HP and a later P3 correlate associated with expectedness‐effects. Finally, the results indicate that unpredictable threat attenuates rather than enhances the processing of unexpected benign events during the P3 latency. Our study shows how the brain may regulate cardiac responses during threat anticipation and processing of unexpected stimuli. Early tone‐evoked frontomedial N1 and P2 responses and subsequent cardiac acceleration are not only enhanced during unpredictable threat but are also functionally coupled as indicated by time‐lagged within‐subject correlations emerging during threat and safety. In addition, P3 and heart period, both sensitive to stimulus expectedness during threat and safe contexts, also appear functionally coupled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political scientists have shown increased research interests in Asian Americans' political behavior. Nevertheless, considerable skepticism remains over more fundamental questions about Asians, such as the capacity for pan-Asian cooperation and political solidarity in the US. To advance research in this area, the current study examines how a diverse, "pan-ethnic" Asian group can function as a cohesive collective using evidence from a behavioral game, an innovation in this area of research. I show that an inclusive common ingroup can be forged and cohesion attained when shared threats of exclusion that cut across subgroup distinctions are made salient. I demonstrate this using original experimental data that allow me to examine behavioral measures of group cohesion, as well as policy support for different subgroups. Results show the existence of co-ethnic bias among Asians in the US towards those who share their ethnic background. They also show the power of salient shared exclusionary discrimination to overcome this bias by increasing ingroup cohesion in a one-shot economic game and enhancing support for policies that benefit Asians as a group. Taken together, this study highlights unique conditions of group-based threats under which Asians in the US achieve political cooperation—particularly across South and East Asian lines—due to substantial heterogeneity within the group category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wearing face masks to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 has the potential to impact social perception. In the present research, we explore differential consequences of wearing face masks for evaluations of Asian and Black faces. Drawing on theories of prejudice and differing stereotype content for Asian and Black people in the United States, we hypothesized that being depicted wearing a face mask would mitigate evaluations of threat more for Asian faces than for Black faces. Results of a 2 (mask status: face mask vs. no mask) × 3 (face race: Asian vs. Black vs. White) within-subjects design (n = 365) generally supported hypotheses. Additional analyses using normed ratings of face stimuli from the Chicago Face Database showed that Asian faces showed the greatest increase in threat evaluations compared to norming data. These results highlight the unique impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related preventative health behavior on prejudice towards members of different racial groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent can hostility toward Greeks in Turkish politics be explained sociologically? This paper provides a fresh perspective by examining the value of group position theory in understanding negative perceptions of Greeks in Turkish politics between 1946 and 1960. It proposes that Turkish politicians' perceived threats to valued resources played a key role in their unfavorable portrayals of Greeks. To test the argument, the study scrutinizes all Turkish parliamentary speeches in this period that contain the word Greek (N = 652). Quantitative analysis demonstrates that speaking about border-related threats is a significant predictor of negative perceptions. Qualitative investigation details how politicians justified their negative comments. The paper concludes that the negative remarks about Greeks are a function of Turkish politicians' perceived threats to valued resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key aim of our study was to examine pathways from exposure to childhood adversities (i.e., deprivation and threat) to adolescent psychopathology. The assessed mediating mechanisms included cognitive ability and emotion regulation, as proposed by the Dimensional Model of Adversity and Psychopathology (DMAP). The study comprised participants from the nationally representative Millennium Cohort Study. Latent scores for deprivation and threat were derived using confirmatory factor analysis from indicators collected when participants were at age of 9 months, 3 and 5 years. Cognitive ability was measured using the Verbal Similarities subscale of the British Ability Scales II at age 11, and emotion regulation was measured using emotion dysregulation subscale of the Child Social Behavioural Questionnaire at age 7. Psychopathology, defined as psychological distress, was assessed using the Kessler 6 scale at age 17. We conducted causal mediation analysis adjusting for multiple confounding factors. We did not find total effect of either exposure to deprivation or threat on psychological distress, but we did find significant indirect effects of exposure to deprivation on psychological distress via cognitive ability (− 0.11, 95% CI − 0.20 to − 0.05) and emotion regulation (0.03, 0.02 to 0.12), and exposure to threat on psychological distress via cognitive ability (− 0.04, − 0.07 to − 0.01) and emotion regulation (0.09, 0.03 to 0.15). The lack of associations between deprivation or threat and psychological distress may be due to reporting bias or developmental period of psychopathology. Results of mediation analysis partially support the DMAP but indicate limited benefits to reduce adolescent psychological distress by targeting cognitive ability or emotion regulation to those exposed to childhood adversities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate estimation of time‐to‐collision (TTC) is essential for the survival of organisms. Previous studies have revealed that the emotional properties of approaching stimuli can influence the estimation of TTC, indicating that approaching threatening stimuli are perceived to collide with the observers earlier than they actually do, and earlier than non‐threatening stimuli. However, not only are threatening stimuli more negative in valence, but they also have higher arousal compared to non‐threatening stimuli. Up to now, the effect of arousal on TTC estimation remains unclear. In addition, inconsistent findings may result from the different experimental settings employed in previous studies. To investigate whether the underestimation of TTC is attributed to threat or high arousal, three experiments with the same settings were conducted. In Experiment 1, the underestimation of TTC estimation of threatening stimuli was replicated when arousal was not controlled, in comparison to non‐threatening stimuli. In Experiments 2 and 3, the underestimation effect of threatening stimuli disappeared when compared to positive stimuli with similar arousal. These findings suggest that being threatening alone is not sufficient to explain the underestimation effect, and arousal also plays a significant role in the TTC estimation of approaching stimuli. Further studies are required to validate the effect of arousal on TTC estimation, as no difference was observed in Experiment 3 between the estimated TTC of high and low arousal stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of sophisticated machines at the workplace – e.g. robots equipped with artificial intelligence – is on the rise. Since humans tend to experience a threat to human uniqueness in response to machines with human-like mental capabilities, I explored whether the same holds true for status threat, a well-researched variable in the interpersonal workplace literature. Across two experiments (N1 = 104, N2 = 589), humans felt higher status threat towards a robot (Experiment 1, laboratory study) and an artificial intelligence (Experiment 2, online study) that outperformed a human in verbal-creative tasks, requiring agency and experience to solve. Contrary to results from human-human literature, higher status threat was linked with higher willingness to interact with the machine, which I trace back to its high perceived usefulness. I further interpret my findings as a hint that humans are open to using modern-day technology if they assume to benefit from the advantages the technology brings to their own work and therefore accept the feeling of status threat at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]