Facilitative effect of awe on cooperation: The role of the small-self and self-other inclusion.

Awe has been theorized as a kind of self-transcendence emotion that has an important impact on individual social behavior. Based on the self-transcendence of awe, this study examined how awe can increase small-self and self-other inclusion to facilitate cooperation among individuals across three studies (N = 1162). First, the relationship between awe, cooperative propensity, and the mediating role of small-self and self-other inclusion in the relationship was examined using questionnaires on trait levels (Study 1). Second, awe emotions were induced from the state level through behavioral experiments to verify the facilitative effect on cooperative behavior in multiple rounds of public goods dilemma (Study 2). Third, by adding the induction of negative awe to discuss the impact of different valence of awe on cooperative behavior, the mediating role of small-self and self-other inclusion was supported (Study 3). Results show that awe has a facilitative effect on cooperation, which provides strong evidence for the positive social function of self-transcendent emotional awe.

Concern for mianzi: Relations with adjustment in rural and urban Chinese adolescents.

The present study examined relations between concern for mianzi, or the social perception of one's prestige and standing in the group, and adjustment in Chinese adolescents. Participants were seventh- and ninth-grade students in rural and urban regions of China (n = 794, Mage = 14 years). Data were obtained from multiple sources including peer assessments, teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. The results showed that concern for mianzi was associated with social competence, leadership, academic achievement, as well as aggression and mixed peer relationships in rural adolescents. In contrast, concern for mianzi was associated with comprehensive social, school, and psychological adjustment problems in urban adolescents. The results indicate the role of context in shaping the relations between adolescents' concern for mianzi and adjustment.

Awe and wise reasoning in adolescents: The mediating role of small-self and need for relatedness.

Background: Interpersonal conflict is inevitable in the adolescent socialization process; wise reasoning is applicable to and effective for interpersonal conflict problem solving. However, the role of emotions in wise reasoning remains unclear and less explored in empirical research. According, this study explored the relationship between awe and wise reasoning, and proposed the influence pathways from the self-transcendence of awe to examine the facilitative effect of decentralized emotions on wise reasoning. Method: A total of 812 tenth and eleventh graders (age range 15-19 years, M = 16.07, SD = 0.76, 54.6% male) from a high school in Zhejiang, China completed self-report questionnaires that measured awe, small-self, need for relatedness, and wise reasoning via an online survey. Results: Structural equation models demonstrated that adolescents' trait awe positively predicted their wisdom in conflict situations-wise reasoning directly and indirectly through the parallel mediating role of small-self and need for relatedness. Conclusions: This finding validates the facilitative effect of decentralized emotions on wise reasoning and the internal and external influence pathways. The study laid the foundation for future exploration of the role of emotion types on wise reasoning and provided practical guidance for the solution of interpersonal conflict in social interactions among adolescents.

Changes in Chinese early adolescents' group orientation and mental health from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adolescence is a critical period for formulating and developing value orientations. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically restricted people's lives, potentially leading adolescents to reevaluate what they prioritize in life (i.e., their values) and affecting their mental health. Previous studies suggest that Chinese early adolescents' group orientation is negatively associated with mental health more strongly in rural than in urban, whereas this rural-urban differs may vary after the outbreak of the pandemic. To examine potential changes in group orientation, mental health, and their associations during the pandemic, two cross-sectional surveys of ninth-grade students in the same three school were conducted in rural and urban China in 2019 and 2021. The results showed that compared with students before the pandemic (2019, N = 516, 48.8% girls, Mage = 14.87 years), students during the pandemic (2021, N = 655, 48.1% girls, Mage = 14.80 years) displayed lower group orientation such as group responsibility and rule abiding of rural students, and higher loneliness and depressive symptoms. Social equality, group responsibility and rule abiding were all significantly negatively associated with loneliness and depressive symptoms. Those negative associations were stronger in the urban regions than in the rural region. Follow-up invariance analysis revealed that this rural-urban difference in the relations between social equality, group responsibility, and rule abiding and mental health problems was only significant during (and not before) the pandemic. The protective effect of group orientation on mental health seems to be weakened only in rural contexts. The results suggest that significant changes in macrolevel contexts may play an important role in shaping adolescents' value orientation and mental health.