Future-oriented thinking promotes positive attitudes toward the "Help Mark" in Japan.

The "Help Mark," created in Japan, is worn by people who need help in public settings. It is designed to induce help from others for those in need of help because of their hidden disabilities or health conditions. Several attempts have been made to publicize the meaning and implications of this wearable sign through various media. However, it is difficult to assert whether there is sufficient awareness regarding this sign in the Japanese society. The purpose of this study was to examine the type of messages that are more effective in promoting the "Help Mark" system (Study 1). Additionally, based on the data obtained in Study 1, we presented a newly designed poster to promote the "Help Mark" sign and attempted to empirically examine the effect of this poster (Study 2). The results suggest that a message that reflects that the "Help Mark" is for "everyone," based on future-oriented thinking, is more effective. Furthermore, it was indicated that people who saw the poster containing a message implying that the "Help Mark" is "for everyone" reported increased positive attitudes toward the "Help Mark" system. These results indicate that encouraging future-oriented thinking may lead to positive attitudes regarding the "Help Mark" system.

Potential influence of decision time on punishment behavior and its evaluation.

Previous studies on whether punishers are rewarded by reputational gains have yielded conflicting results. Some studies have argued that punitive behaviors potentially result in a positive evaluation, while others have found the opposite. This study aims to clarify the conditions that lead to the positive evaluation of costly punishment. Study 1 utilized one-round and repeated public goods game (PGG) situations and manipulated decision time for participants' punitive behavior toward the non-cooperative person in the situation. We also asked participants to report their impression evaluations of punitive behavior toward non-cooperative people. Moreover, utilizing the second- and third-party punishment games, Study 2 manipulated the decision time of participants' punitive behavior toward the self-interested person and asked them to evaluate the punitive behavior. The results showed that those who punished intuitively were not likely to be evaluated positively. However, punishers were rewarded when the decision to punish was made after deliberation or made by those who were not direct victims. These findings extend previous research on the evaluation of punitive behavior and reveal that deliberative punishment is evaluated positively occasionally.

Willingness to be the recipient during the dictator game.

OBJECTIVE: Researchers have investigated human altruism toward strangers for decades, using economic games such as the dictator game (DG) in their experiments. However, factors that cause the allocating behavior exhibited by those participants willing to be recipients in the DG have not been identified and the psychological mechanism of avoiding decision-making in economic games has not been widely addressed in previous studies. This study aimed to replicate previous findings regarding the number of people who are willing to be assigned the role of recipient and their allocation behavior and to explore why they share more than people who are willing to be dictators. RESULTS: We demonstrate that there are people willing to be assigned the role of the recipient, rather than the role of the dictator during the dictator game. In addition, we find evidence indicating that people who are willing to be recipients behave more altruistically in the dictator game than those who prefer to be dictators. Based on our results, we argue that willingness to be a recipient, in relation to the psychological unwillingness to assume responsibility and reputational concerns, is a strategic consideration.

Fickle Judgments in Moral Dilemmas: Time Pressure and Utilitarian Judgments in an Interdependent Culture.

In the trolley problem, a well-known moral dilemma, the intuitive process is believed to increase deontological judgments, while deliberative reasoning is thought to promote utilitarian decisions. Therefore, based on the dual-process model, there seems to be an attempt to save several lives at the expense of a few others in a deliberative manner. This study examines the validity of this argument. To this end, we manipulate decision-making time in the standard trolley dilemma to compare differences among 119 Japanese female undergraduates under three conditions: intuitive judgment, deliberative judgment, and judgment after a group discussion. The current results demonstrate that utilitarian judgments decreased from 52.9% in the intuition condition to 43.7% in the deliberation condition and 37.0% after the discussion. Additional analysis suggests that the decrease in utilitarian judgments may be related to psychological unwillingness to assume responsibility for the lives of others rather than to an increase in deontological judgments. Finally, these results are discussed from an adaptationist perspective.

Collegial Organizational Climate Alleviates Japanese Schoolteachers' Risk for Burnout.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of individuals' help-seeking preference (HSP) and their collective perception of the organizational climate in school on teachers' mental health. Previous studies demonstrated that HSP was negatively associated with risk of burnout, suggesting that teachers who hesitate to seek help from their colleagues are more likely to have mental health problems. Thus, the current study hypothesized that a collegial organizational climate would be negatively associated with burnout. To test this hypothesis, we developed a scale to measure schoolteachers' collective perception of their organizational climate (Study 1), and the newly developed scale was used to assess its relationship with HSP and teachers' burnout risk (Study 2). The results demonstrated that younger teachers, a low level of help-seeking, and a less collaborative climate increased the risk of burnout. The results also showed a significant interaction effect, indicating that HSP was less closely associated with teachers' burnout risk if their organization was perceived as having a collegial climate. These findings clearly show how the social environment of a school's organizational climate can affect schoolteachers' mental health in Japan.

Creating a positive perception toward inclusive education with future-oriented thinking.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the ways that encouraged people to develop positive attitudes and perceptions toward inclusive education. The Japanese special needs education system for students with disabilities has been shifting from a segregated model to a more inclusive form which is the major challenge facing educational systems around the world. While support for inclusive practices has grown rapidly in Japan, their implementation requires more attention. Considering these situations, in the current study, we experimentally manipulated future-oriented thinking and examined whether positive perceptions about inclusive education was enhanced if people acknowledged and realized that an inclusive society may improve the long-term welfare of not only people with disabilities but also people without disabilities or functional limitations. RESULTS: Our results partially confirmed that future-oriented thinking encouraged positive perceptions of inclusive education. It increased only when participants thought about the future employment of people with/without disabilities. No significant effects were found for the present orientation or control conditions.

Construction of a genetic linkage map and detection of quantitative trait locus for the ergothioneine content in tamogitake mushroom (Pleurotus cornucopiae var. citrinopileatus).

Developing high-content strains of L-ergothioneine (EGT), an antioxidant amino acid, is an important breeding target for tamogitake mushroom, Pleurotus cornucopiae var. citrinopileatus. We constructed a genetic linkage map based on segregation analysis of markers in 105 F1 progenies. The loci of 245 markers, including 10 AFLP markers, 195 Rad markers, 2 mating type factors, and 38 gene markers, were mapped. The map contained 12 linkage groups with a total genetic distance of 906.8 cM, and an average marker interval of 4.0 cM. The population from crossing between tester monokaryon and F1 progenies was used to characterize quantitative trait loci (QTL) for EGT content. With composite interval mapping (CIM) method, QTL of EGT content were found to be located in linkage group 10, having a Logarithm of the odds (LOD) score of 2.53 with a 10.1% contribution rate. Moreover, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), A/T, was identified in a gene region of the genome in the neighborhood where the QTL peak existed. This SNP genotype was in good agreement with the EGT phenotypes of each strain in the both QTL population and wild population. Thus, this SNP would have great potential value to use the marker-assisted selection (MAS) for this mushroom with high EGT content.

Time Pressure and In-group Favoritism in a Minimal Group Paradigm.

Based on the group heuristic model and the model of intuitive cooperation, we hypothesized that in-group favoritism would be conspicuously shown through an intuitive process. To test this hypothesis, we utilized a minimal group paradigm, which is traditionally used in social psychological studies, and manipulated decision time in a one-shot prisoner's dilemma game to compare the cooperative contribution level toward in-group and out-group members under three conditions: intuitive, empathic deliberation, and rational deliberation. Our findings confirmed that in-group favoritism was clearly shown in the intuitive condition only, suggesting that the intuitive cooperation model may only be valid in the context of social exchange with in-group members. Additional analysis also showed that in-group favoritism disappeared for participants who had been forced into empathic or rational deliberation for decision making. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.