Subjects: Psychology >> Applied Psychology Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-01-31
Abstract：
Despite the growing urgency of waste separation as an environmental concern, the rates of contamination from unsorted waste remain high without the monitoring from volunteers. How can we facilitate collaboration between residents and volunteers? To address the dilemma of waste separation, the present study conducted three experiments and one qualitative interview based on the theories of competitive altruism and social influence to investigate the effects of familiarity and age on residents' cooperation, as well as the mediating roles of reputational concern and social distance. Using scenarios, participants were asked to read the instructions (each representing one of the conditions), and then to predict the extent of probability that they would cooperate in each condition. Experiment 1 adopted a 3 (volunteer age group: primary children/younger/older) × 3 (volunteer familiarity: high/low/unfamiliar) within-subjects design to examine the differences in the cooperation of young people (M = 20.16 ± 1.01 years) with volunteers in different conditions. Experiment 2 adopted a 2 (participant age group: younger/older; between-subjects variable) × 3 (volunteer age group: primary children/younger/older; within-subjects variable) × 3 (volunteer familiarity: high/low/unfamiliar; within-subjects variable) mixed design, to examine the age-related differences of the cooperation between younger people (M = 40.63 ± 7.60 years) and older people (M = 68.90 ± 4.97 years) with volunteers in different conditions. The findings of Experiment 1 were replicated. Experiment 3 adopted a 2 (volunteer age group: younger/older) × 2 (volunteer familiarity: high/unfamiliar) within-subjects design, and it lasted for four weeks at an interval of one week for each participant. Experiment 3 aimed to examine the mediating role of reputational concern and social distance in familiarity and cooperation.
Experiment 1 showed that participants cooperated more with the high familiar volunteers than with the low familiar or strange volunteers. The higher the familiarity, the greater the cooperative intention. As age and familiarity interact to affect the cooperative intention, participants cooperated more with older volunteers than with primary children in the low familiar condition. Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1, and found that familiarity had a significant effect on the cooperative intention of both younger and older adults. Besides, older adults cooperated more with older volunteers while less with strangers than younger adults. Experiment 3 replicated the results of the first two experiments, and examined the underlying mechanism. The mediation analysis showed that social distance and reputational concern play a serial mediating role in the effect of familiarity on cooperation. The results of multiple regression analysis and qualitative interviews showed that the monitoring and feedback of the volunteers, who were familiar with the residents and individual prosociality, played key roles in promoting waste separation. These findings provide suggestions and scientific support for the practice of waste separation and saving management costs. The present study showed that helping residents to become familiar with volunteers in advance, or recruiting people who are familiar with residents as volunteers, will be helpful for waste separation. These strategies can promote the cooperative intention of residents, and help them form the habit of waste separation. Social distance and reputational concern play a serial mediating role in the effect of familiarity on cooperation.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Physiological Psychology submitted time 2020-07-31
Abstract： Pre-attentive processing refers to the early and automatic cognitive processes which are independent of consciousness and do not demand attention. Auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) is the most commonly used indicator of pre-attentive processing. MMN deficits have been found in a various of mental disorders, but little is known about the neurobiological mechanisms of MMN deficits. Combined with highly developed neurobiological and pharmacological techniques, animal models can provide valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms of MMN. Future animal studies of MMN should give more thoughts to the biological characteristics of different species and compare MMN across species in combination with human and animal research advantages. Hopefully, this comparative approach will lead to a better understanding of pre-attentive processing at both the macro and the micro levels.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
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