Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： In recent years, impacts of societal changes on human culture and psychology have become a cutting-edge research area in cultural psychology. The research from the perspective of psychology mainly concerns psychological and behavioral changes as well as their potential drives, which often involves three kinds of effect, that is, age/maturation effect， period/time effect, and cohort/generation effect. Time effect refers to effects caused by socioecological changes in a certain period (e.g., the influences of modernization on Chinese people since 1980s). Age effect refers to development growth caused by individual maturation (e.g., developmental growth during a specific period). Cohort effect refers to effects associated with a specific born year (e.g., enduring effect of modernization on 1970 generation in China). Among these effects, time effect and cohort effect are related to socioecological change, whereas age effect usually constitutes a confounder. In examining psychological changes as well as their drives, widely used research designs includes cross-time comparison, cross-generation comparison, and cross-region comparison (or historical reconstruction). By examining psychology and behaviors of people in different times, cross-time comparison allows researchers to infer how surveyed psychology and behaviors have changed with time. This examination usually involves cross-temporal analysis of published data, archive data and survey data. The survey data may be resulted from diverse designs, including cross-sequential design, longitudinal design, revolving panel design, total population design and retrospective panel design. These designs vary in difficulty of data collection. Cross-generation comparison allows researchers to infer the changes of psychology and behaviors across time by examining differences across people born in different cohorts. The cohort can be decided based on special years (e.g., 1980s, 1990s and so on) or special events (e.g., China’s opening up and reform; China’s joining in WTO). In doing this, research can compare representative samples born in different cohorts. A special case is to compare grandparents, parents, and youngest generation within a family. Cross-generation comparison within a family also allows to examine similarities and dissimilarities of different generations. Cross-regional comparison allows researchers to infer the changes of psychology and behavior by examining differences across regions at different modernization levels. A typical example is to infer psychological changes by comparing people from rural areas with those from urban areas. In this case, rural areas represent the past or tradition, whereas urbane areas represent current or modern time. Thus, rural-urban differences can be mapped onto tradition-modern differences. In examining psychological changes as well as their drives, widely used data analysis methods includes classic correlation and regression analyses, and modern time series analysis. In exploring possible causal relationships, cross-lagged correlation analysis and Granger causal test are often used. In doing correlation and regression analysis, researchers usually use year or potential socioeconomic factors to predict targeted psychological outcomes, thereby inferring the psychological trends as well as their covariations with diverse socioecological factors. Cross-lagged correlation analysis allows us to infer the direction of the covariation. Granger causal test may provide further causality test while controlling for potential influences of autoregression. Vector autoregression has received increasing attention in recent years, which can be used to model multivariate time-series data. Despite salient advances in data analysis technique, how to decompose and estimate the age effect, period effect, and cohort effect is still a challenge. More studies are needed to tackle this issue. In summary, we summarized the main research designs and data analysis techniques in studying culture, psychology, and behavior changes. It is notable that each design has specific pros and cons, researchers need to choose suitable design in terms of research question and data collection possibility. If possible, it is highly recommended to pursue convergent evidence by conducting multiple studies with diverse research designs.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： As a fundamental technique in natural language processing (NLP), word embedding quantifies a word as a low-dimensional, dense, and continuous numeric vector (i.e., word vector). This process is based on machine learning algorithms such as neural networks, through which semantic features of a word can be extracted automatically. There are two types of word embeddings: static and dynamic. Static word embeddings aggregate all contextual information of a word in an entire corpus into a fixed vectorized representation. The static word embeddings can be obtained by predicting the surrounding words given a word or vice versa (Word 2Vec and FastText) or by predicting the probability of co-occurrence of multiple words (GloVe) in large-scale text corpora. Dynamic or contextualized word embeddings, in contrast, derive a word vector based on a specific context, which can be generated through pre-trained language models such as ELMo, GPT, and BERT. Theoretically, the dimensions of a word vector reflect the pattern of how the word can be predicted in contexts; however, they also connote substantial semantic information of the word. Therefore, word embeddings can be used to analyze semantic meanings of text. In recent years, word embeddings have been increasingly applied to study human psychology. In doing this, word embeddings have been used in various ways, including the raw vectors of word embeddings, vector sums or differences, absolute or relative semantic similarity and distance. So far, the Word Embedding Association Test (WEAT) has received the most attention. Based on word embeddings, psychologists have explored a wide range of topics, including human semantic processing, cognitive judgment, divergent thinking, social biases and stereotypes, and sociocultural changes at the societal or population level. Particularly, the WEAT has been widely used to investigate attitudes, stereotypes, social biases, the relationship between culture and psychology, as well as their origin, development, and cross-temporal changes. As a novel methodology, word embeddings offer several unique advantages over traditional approaches in psychology, including lower research costs, higher sample representativeness, stronger objectivity of analysis, and more replicable results. Nonetheless, word embeddings also have limitations, such as their inability to capture deeper psychological processes, limited generalizability of conclusions, and dubious reliability and validity. Future research using word embeddings should address these limitations by (1) distinguishing between implicit and explicit components of social cognition, (2) training fine-grained word vectors in terms of time and region to facilitate cross-temporal and cross-cultural research, and (3) applying contextualized word embeddings and large pre-trained language models such as GPT and BERT. To enhance the application of word embeddings in psychological research, we have developed the R package “PsychWordVec”, an integrated word embedding toolkit for researchers to study human psychology in natural language.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-27 Cooperative journals: 《心理学报》
Abstract： The purpose of this research is to examine the change of ideal affect of Chinese people since 1980s, in particular, high arousal positive affects (HAP), low arousal positive affects (LAP) and positive affects (P). By employing diverse methods, three studies were conducted. In Study 1, a total of 84 participants born before 1966 were asked to assess the ideal affect of Chinese people at beginnings of 1980, 2000, 2020. Results showed that the preferences for HAP, LAP and P have been rising among Chinese people since 1980. In Study 2, a total of 1561 college students were asked to assess the ideal affect of people of three generations: their grandparents generation, their parents generation and their own generation. Results showed that the youngest generation manifested higher preferences for HAP, LAP and P than old generations. In Study 3, a large sample of college students from 31 provinces in China were surveyed (N =26209). Results indicated that students from urban areas manifest higher preference for HAP, LAP and P than those from rural areas after controlling basic demographic information and cultural orientations; moreover, HAP, LAP and P were positively correlated with each other. Taken together, findings from three studies convergently suggest that preferences for HAP, LAP and P have been rising since 1980, with modernization as a potential driver.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-02-03
Abstract：
As a kind of affect state that individuals ideally want to experience, ideal affect is closely associated with culture. While people from individualistic culture prefer high arousal positive affect (i.e., enthusiastic, excited, elated), people from collectivistic culture prefer low arousal positive affect (i.e., calm, relaxed, peaceful). Society and culture, however, are not static. How would ideal affects shift along with massive sociocultural change? For the first time, we addressed this issue by examining the change of ideal affects in China, a collectivistic nation that has experienced huge social transformation and witnessed a rise in individualism in recent decades. In doing this, we focused on three main kinds of widely studied ideal affects: high arousal positive affects (HAP), low arousal positive affects (LAP) and positive affects (P; i.e., happy, satisfied, content). We conducted three studies, using cross-time comparison, cross-generational comparison and cross-regional comparison in each of the three studies, respectively.
In Study 1, a total of 84 participants who were born before 1966 and have experienced the whole process of Chinese reform and opening-up were recruited. They were asked to assess the extent to which Chinese people prefer each of 9 affections as listed above at beginning of 1980, 2000, 2020. Results showed that the preferences for HAP, LAP and P have been rising among Chinese since 1980.
In Study 2, a total of 1561 college students were asked to assess the extent to which people from each of the three generations (i.e., their grandparents generation, their parents generation and their own generation) prefer the 9 affects. Results showed that the youngest generation manifested higher preferences for HAP, LAP and P than old generations.
In Study 3, a large sample of college students from 31 provinces in China participated in the survey (N = 26209). They were asked to indicate the extent to which they prefer the 9 affects. Their cultural orientations of individualism and collectivism were also assessed as control variables. Results indicated that students from urban areas reported higher preference for HAP, LAP and P than those from rural areas after controlling their main demographic information and cultural orientations; moreover, HAP, LAP and P were positively correlated with each other at both individual and provincial levels.
Together, by using three different comparisons and assessing ideal affects from both inter-subjective (Study 1 and Study 2) and intra-subjective perspectives (Study 3), our three studies convergently showed that preferences for HAP, LAP and P have been rising in recent decades. The simultaneous rises of HAP and LAP as well as the positive correlation between them form a sharp contrast with the existing theoretical conceptualization and empirical findings about HAP and LAP, which suggest that HAP and LAP should be negatively correlated and manifest opposite shifting trends. Our findings, however, dovetail well with Chinese traditional culture of naïve dialecticism, according to which two seemingly contradictory opposites could coexist and even facilitate each other in some circumstances. Hence, theories originated from the West may not be applicable in China and novel theories may be needed.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology Subjects: Psychology >> Cognitive Psychology Subjects: Psychology >> Psychological Measurement Subjects: Computer Science >> Natural Language Understanding and Machine Translation submitted time 2023-01-30
Abstract： As a basic technique in natural language processing (NLP), word embedding represents a word with a low-dimensional, dense, and continuous numeric vector (i.e., word vector). Word embeddings can be obtained by using neural network algorithms to predict words from the surrounding words or vice versa (Word2Vec and FastText) or words’ probability of co-occurrence (GloVe) in large-scale text corpora. In this case, the values of dimensions of a word vector denote the pattern of how a word can be predicted in a context, substantially connoting its semantic information. Therefore, word embeddings can be utilized for semantic analyses of text. In recent years, word embeddings have been rapidly employed to study human psychology, including human semantic processing, cognitive judgment, individual divergent thinking (creativity), group-level social cognition, sociocultural changes, and so forth. We have developed the R package “PsychWordVec” to help researchers utilize and analyze word embeddings in a tidy approach. Future research using word embeddings should (1) distinguish between implicit and explicit components of social cognition, (2) train fine-grained word vectors in terms of time and region to facilitate cross-temporal and cross-cultural research, and (3) deepen and expand the application of contextualized word embeddings and large pre-trained language models such as GPT and BERT.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2022-09-01
Abstract：
In recent years, impacts of social change on human culture and psychology have become a cutting-edge research area in cultural psychology. This research often implicates three effects: time or period effect, cohort or generation effect, and age or maturation effect, among which the former two are related to societal change, whereas the last one usually constitutes a confounder. In examining cultural and psychological changes as well as its sources, widely used research designs include cross-time comparison, cross-generation comparison and cross-regional comparison (or historical reconstruction) and widely used statistic methods includes traditional correlation and regression analyses and modern time series analyses (e.g. cross-lagged correlation analysis, Granger causality tests). Since each design has specific pros and cons, researchers need to choose suitable design in terms of research question and data collection possibility. If possible, it is highly recommended to pursue convergent evidence by conducting multiple studies with multiple research designs.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology Subjects: Psychology >> Personality Psychology submitted time 2021-01-13
Abstract： Personal names not only can influence others’ impression and evaluation, but also may affect individuals’ own psychology and behavior in real world. Over the past century, psychologists have conducted numerous empirical studies in the domains of decision making, achievement, health, and personality to examine the actual impacts of surnames or given names on individuals. Various dimensions of names (e.g., name uniqueness, name gender, name valence, and name warmth–competence) could, more or less, predict human psychology and behavior (e.g., career/life/economic decisions, career/academic achievements, physical/mental health, criminal behavior, personality traits, psychological needs, and facial characteristics). However, existing evidence is mixed, and current theories are far from adequate. Future studies should examine multiple dimensions of names, deal with methodological problems (e.g., replicability, causality, mechanisms, and cross-cultural generalizability), and try best to develop more systematic and inclusive theories to explain the psychological and behavioral effects of names.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2020-08-07
Abstract： " The theory of Behavioral Immune System (BIS) posits that to cope with pandemic stress, human beings have evolved a series of behavioral responses, including vigilance to and disgust of disease cues, preference for healthy mate and collectivism, prejudice against out-groups and so on. For the first time, the existing studies were reviewed according to research level (individual vs. group). A large body of supportive evidence for BIS at both levels was identified, though many inconsistent and/or conflicting findings exist. Reasons leading to such inconsistencies include inadequacies of research methods, theory basis, and applicability in modern society. Future research should examine the boundary conditions of existing findings and theory; extend the scope of the current research; explore the underlying biological and physiological mechanism of BIS."
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