To Blame or Not? Modulating Third-Party Punishment with the Framing Effect / 神经科学通报·英文版

People as third-party observers, without direct self-interest, may punish norm violators to maintain social norms. However, third-party judgment and the follow-up punishment might be susceptible to the way we frame (i.e., verbally describe) a norm violation. We conducted a behavioral and a neuroimaging experiment to investigate the above phenomenon, which we call the "third-party framing effect". In these experiments, participants observed an anonymous perpetrator deciding whether to keep her/his economic benefit while exposing a victim to a risk of physical pain (described as "harming others" in one condition and "not helping others" in the other condition), then they had a chance to punish that perpetrator at their own cost. Our results showed that the participants were more willing to execute third-party punishment under the harm frame compared to the help frame, manifesting a framing effect. Self-reported anger toward perpetrators mediated the relationship between empathy toward victims and the framing effect. Meanwhile, activation of the insula mediated the relationship between mid-cingulate cortex activation and the framing effect; the functional connectivity between these regions significantly predicted the size of the framing effect. These findings shed light on the psychological and neural mechanisms of the third-party framing effect.

Coping with COVID-19 Stressors: Adverse and Protective Factors Responding to Emotions in a Chinese Sample

BackgroundThe potential roles of affective responses to environmental stressors in individuals physical and mental health are complex and multi-faceted. This study, then, explores Chinese citizens emotional responses to COVID-19-related stressors and influence factors which may boost or buffer such effects. MethodsFrom late March to early June (2020), a cross-sectional study was conducted using an anonymous online questionnaire included demographic characteristics, COVID-19-related stressors related to individuals daily functioning, and the self-assessed impact of protective and adverse internal factors on emotions. Results1,662 questionnaires were received from residents in 32 Chinese provinces classified by prevalence level according to COVID-19 infections. Among the 17 positive and negative emotional responses, agglomerative hierarchical clustering revealed four subclassifications: (1) stress relations; (2) missing someone relations; (3) individual relations; and (4) social relations. Additionally, heightened regional prevalence levels positively corresponded to intensity of stress relations. Lowest intensity of social relations was found in the areas surrounding Wuhan and coastal areas. Specially, economic- and work-related stressors as well as negative self-perceptions (e.g., suppression, emotionally unstable, self-denial) implicated in negative emotions. While positive emotions were tied to demographic characteristics (e.g., high education, young age and male) and protective traits (e.g., creativity, sympathy, social responsibility), and inversely linked to relationships- and pandemic-related stressors, etc. ConclusionAssociations were clearly noted among Chinese residents emotions to specific stressors during pandemic. Providing appropriate psychological resources/supports during future or extended public health crises may help offset the cognitive burden of individuals striving to regain an adequate level of normalcy and emotional well-being.