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In three studies, we examined how attributing the criminal actions of a drug-addicted offender to their "true self" influences perceptions of their blameworthiness. Study 1 revealed that attributing a drug-addicted offender's crime (theft) to his true self positively predicted judgments of the offender's blameworthiness for the crime. Study 2 employed an experimental design and revealed that information connecting a crime (vs. not connecting) to an addicted offender's true self led to greater judgments of blame, whereas learning that the offender had (vs. did not have) a genetic predisposition to addiction mitigated blame. In Study 3, participants read a vignette about a drug-addicted thief whose addiction began with a doctor's prescription, a drug-addicted thief whose addiction began with recreational drug use, or a thief with no mention of addiction. Participants in the prescription condition, but not the recreational use condition, attributed theft to the offender's true self less and ascribed less blame for the crime, relative to the no addiction condition. Furthermore, participants attributed the addiction less to the offender's true self and assigned less blame to the offender for his addiction in the prescription (vs. recreation) condition. Overall, our studies suggest that lay intuitions about true selves robustly guide people's judgments about blame in the context of crimes involving drug-addicted offenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-alienation is a component of authenticity robustly connected to psychological flourishing. Building on theorizing about the importance of an experiential sense of self-ownership for feeling connected to one's true self, we tested whether intentional and unintentional mindwandering differentially correlate with the experience of self-alienation. Participants (N = 278) completed a baseline measure of trait self-alienation, followed by 6 weekly assessments of self-alienation and mindwandering. Weekly fluctuations in intentional mindwandering were negatively associated with self-alienation and weekly fluctuations in unintentional mindwandering were positively associated with self-alienation. These findings advance what is known about the link between self-alienation and mindwandering, and provide evidence for the importance of volition for self-alienation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current evidence suggests that mental health across the globe has suffered significantly during the COVID-19 global pandemic, and that disadvantaged communities are suffering these impacts more acutely. Lower income, female gender, and younger age have all been associated with worse psychopathology during COVID-19. The goal of this study was to determine whether these disparities are more pronounced in places where the pandemic is more severe. We analyzed self-report data and objective metrics from a large global sample (N = 11,227) in order to test the hypothesis that country-level severity of COVID-19 moderates the relationship between the target demographic variables (Subjective SES, gender and age) and psychopathology indicators. Severity of the pandemic emerged as a significant moderator of the relationship between these demographic variables and mental health outcomes. This pattern was extremely consistent for Subjective SES and gender, but slightly more nuanced for age. Overall, we interpreted our data as suggesting that mental health disparities are greater in countries with more severe COVID-19 outbreaks. These findings are critical for understanding the ways that the ongoing pandemic is affecting global mental health, and contribute to the broader literature surrounding collective trauma. • Are mental health inequalities greater in countries where COVID-19 is more severe? • We examined this question in a large global sample (N = 11,227). • Income, gender and age were all risk factors for worse mental health. • Mental health disparities were larger in countries with higher pandemic severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]