Search Results (3,410)

In the context of occupational environments and sustainable employment, this review explores the effects of declining workers’ health, environmental degradation, and the depletion of marine resources on workers’ psychological well-being. As seas and oceans are increasingly exploited and used as dumping sites for both solid and liquid waste, marine ecosystems are severely degraded, with negative impacts on biodiversity, water quality, and ecosystem processes. Marine biodiversity is crucial to maintaining global food security and supporting the livelihoods of millions of people worldwide. Moreover, this study examines the role of digital technology in the marine industry in safeguarding workers’ sustainable well-being. It emphasizes the complementary roles of law and technology in promoting it. The risks to the health and well-being of marine workers are greatly increased by the occupational consequences of climate change on the sustainable environment and the effects of working in marine environments. Working conditions, incomes, and even unemployment among marine workers have been directly affected by the degradation of marine environments and the depletion of marine resources. Anxiety, panic, depression, rage, and other unpleasant emotions that affect workers’ health and pose mental health risks are detrimental to the psychological well-being of marine workers. The challenges of employment in the marine industry adversely affect the physical and mental well-being of marine employees and hinder economic growth. However, digital technology in marine environments has fundamentally altered the regulations governing marine operations. Full article

Emotions play an important role in shaping aggressive behavior, and understanding their underlying psychological mechanisms is particularly relevant among college students. However, existing research has predominantly focused on reactive aggression, while comparatively less attention has been paid to proactive aggression, which is more instrumental in nature and associated with more severe social consequences. In addition, empirical evidence regarding the valence-specific effects of awe remains limited. The present study aimed to examine the differential effects of positive and negative awe on proactive aggression and to explore the role of empathy as a potential mediating mechanism. A total of 110 college students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: positive awe, negative awe, or neutral emotion. Awe was induced through video clips depicting natural landscapes. Proactive aggression was assessed using a modified bug-killing paradigm, including two behavioral indicators: force intensity and proportion of bugs killed. Empathy was measured using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The results revealed a clear differentiation based on the valence of awe. Participants in the positive awe condition exhibited significantly lower levels of proactive aggression than those in the neutral condition across both force intensity (M = 2.86, SD = 0.81 vs. M = 4.17, SD = 0.81) and proportion of bugs killed (M = 0.68, SD = 0.25 vs. M = 0.93, SD = 0.11). In contrast, the inhibitory effects of negative awe were weaker and less consistent. Compared with the neutral condition, negative awe was associated with a lower proportion of bugs killed, although this effect only reached marginal significance (p = 0.06, η² = 0.04), and no significant difference was observed for force intensity. Mediation analyses indicated that empathy partially mediated the association between positive awe and proactive aggression. Empathy accounted for 31% of the total effect in the force intensity pathway (B = −0.02, t = −4.25, p < 0.001, 95% CI [−0.04, −0.01]) and 18% in the proportion-of-bugs-killed pathway (B = −0.003, t = −2.37, p = 0.02, 95% CI [−0.006, −0.001]). Notably, no significant mediating effect of empathy was observed in the negative awe condition, suggesting that the psychological processes linking awe to proactive aggression may differ as a function of emotional valence. Taken together, the present findings suggest that positive awe is reliably associated with lower levels of proactive aggression among college students, and that this association is partially explained by increased empathy. By contrast, the effects of negative awe appear to be fragile and context-dependent, as reflected in their failure to reach statistical significance, indicator-specific manifestation, and the absence of a consistent mediating pathway. These results highlight the importance of distinguishing between positive and negative awe when examining the behavioral consequences of self-transcendent emotions and underscore the need for further research to clarify the conditions under which negative awe may influence aggressive behavior. Full article

Chronic diseases increasingly reflect a shared biological origin: persistent cellular stress. This review summarizes the biochemical mechanisms that normally preserve cellular homeostasis, namely redox regulation, endoplasmic reticulum proteostasis, mitochondrial quality control, autophagy, and DNA damage response, and explains how they fail under sustained lifestyle-related overload. Repeated exposure to psychological stress, sleep disruption, hypercaloric intake, and physical inactivity shifts adaptive signaling toward maladaptation, promoting oxidative damage, protein misfolding, mitochondrial dysfunction, low-grade inflammation, and genomic instability. These interconnected processes contribute to the development and progression of major chronic non-communicable diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Particular emphasis is placed on circadian and neuroendocrine regulation, especially overactivation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and impaired nocturnal regenerative pathways such as glymphatic clearance and DNA repair. Together, the evidence supports a unifying model in which chronic pathology emerges from cumulative failure of cellular resilience systems rather than isolated organ-specific defects. This perspective highlights sleep optimization, stress reduction, and metabolic regulation as mechanistically grounded strategies for prevention and supportive interventions for chronic disease. Full article

A growing number of studies have highlighted the various sensory interactions involved in the musical experience, as relationships between music and dimensions of taste, olfaction, sound, and visual qualities, such as associations between pitch and the size of images or objects, spatial location and frequency, and instrumental timbres and visual shapes. These studies share the premise that the way we relate to the musical phenomenon, whether in the processes of production, perception, or understanding, emerges from an integrated and intrinsically multisensory perceptual event. Nevertheless, because music is present daily in everyday life and because this experience is inherently subjective, such interactions tend to occur so naturally and seem so obvious that they have been relegated to common sense. On the other hand, evidence indicates that sensory interactions constitute a fundamental ancestral mechanism for cognitive and neuronal development governed by non-arbitrary tendencies, multiple variables, and patterns of predictability. The novel contribution of this review is to advance a dynamic theoretical model of multisensory musical experience that takes crossmodal correspondences as its central organising axis, articulated through three structuring principles (universality, congruence effect, hierarchical tendency) and their interaction with musical organisation, cognitive structure, and the sensory systems mobilised by music. A future research agenda is also proposed to broaden and deepen investigations in the field of music psychology and human development. Full article

The psychological benefits of waterfront public spaces have become an important topic in environmental design and architectural research. However, existing studies have primarily focused on the direct relationship between physical environmental attributes and user satisfaction, with limited attention to the psychological mechanisms through which architectural design influences residents’ well-being. This study examines waterfront concert halls as a type of cultural architectural space and develops a theoretical model integrating environmental restoration theory and place attachment theory. In this model, waterfront design perception is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct including water visibility, water accessibility, water harmony, and water interactivity, while perceived restorativeness and place attachment are treated as mediating variables, and residents’ well-being as the outcome variable. Based on questionnaire data collected from 1345 urban residents across six Chinese cities and seven waterfront concert hall cases, and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling, the results show that waterfront design perception has a significant positive effect on residents’ well-being. Perceived restorativeness and place attachment both play mediating roles and jointly form a sequential pathway through which environmental perception is translated into psychological and emotional benefits. These findings extend the understanding of waterfront design from objective spatial attributes to subjective experiential processes and provide empirical support for the design of waterfront cultural architecture aimed at enhancing the well-being of urban residents. Full article

Background: Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are frequently underdiagnosed in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and the mechanisms underlying their development remain poorly understood. While inflammatory processes may contribute, central pain sensitization and psychological factors could play a significant role in TMD pathogenesis. Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate clinical characteristics, disease activity, psychiatric comorbidities, and pain processing mechanisms in PsA patients with and without TMD and to identify factors independently associated with temporomandibular involvement. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study included 190 consecutive PsA patients (CASPAR criteria) from a single tertiary center. Patients with fibromyalgia were excluded. TMD was assessed by maxillofacial specialists. Disease activity (cDAPSA), functional status (HAQ-DI), disease impact (PsAID-12), central sensitization (Central Sensitization Inventory, CSI), kinesiophobia (Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, TSK-11), pressure pain threshold (algometry), and emotional comorbidities (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS) were evaluated. An exploratory binary logistic regression identified a factor independently associated with TMD. Results: Twenty-five patients (13.1%) had confirmed TMD, with a significant female predominance (76% vs. 39%; p = 0.001). Only 24% of patients exhibited structural damage on orthopantomography. TMD patients showed higher CSI scores (52 vs. 32; p < 0.001), greater kinesiophobia (TSK-11: 30 vs. 23; p = 0.002), lower pressure pain thresholds (2.1 vs 2.7 kg/cm²; p = 0.03), and higher anxiety (HADS-A: 9 vs. 5; p = 0.001) and depression scores (HADS-D: 6.5 vs. 3; p = 0.001). TMD patients also exhibited worse functional status (HAQ-DI: 0.7 vs. 0.3; p = 0.001) and greater disease impact (PsAID-12: 4.8 vs. 2.9; p = 0.001). In multivariate analysis, central sensitization (OR: 1.1; 95%CI: 1.04–1.18; p = 0.001) and anxiety (OR: 1.2; 95%CI: 1.02–1.61; p = 0.02) were independently associated with TMD (Nagelkerke R² = 0.48). Conclusion: TMD in PsA is associated with central sensitization and anxiety rather than mechanisms secondary to bone damage. These findings support a multidimensional approach incorporating screening for central sensitization and psychiatric comorbidities in PsA patients with temporomandibular symptoms. Full article

AI-driven personalization (AIP) has become a core mechanism of digital commerce platforms, yet its psychological consequences remain theoretically fragmented. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework and Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT), this study proposes a Threat-Substitution Mechanism (TSM) to explain how AIP shapes continuance intention in high-involvement online travel decisions. Using survey data from 488 Generation Y and Z users of Chinese online travel agencies and analyzing the model via PLS-SEM, results show that AIP significantly increases usage intention (UI) and reduces psychological reactance. Psychological reactance partially mediates the relationship between AIP and UI, indicating the presence of underlying psychological friction alongside dominant utilitarian benefits. Furthermore, privacy concerns amplify the negative relationship between AIP and reactance, suggesting that privacy-sensitive users exhibit heightened appraisal sensitivity rather than uniform resistance to personalization. By reconceptualizing the personalization paradox as a context-contingent threat appraisal process, this study advances electronic commerce research beyond parallel dual-effect models and clarifies the boundary conditions under which AIP enhances or constrains user continuance. Practical implications highlight the importance of algorithmic precision and autonomy-supportive design in AI-enabled commerce platforms. Full article

Background: Workplace bullying constitutes a persistent psychosocial risk in public service settings, where hierarchical structures and limited exit opportunities may intensify employees’ psychological strain. Although previous research has documented associations between workplace bullying and burnout, less is known about the psychological processes through which bullying translates into emotional exhaustion and the contextual conditions under which these processes are activated, particularly in public sector contexts. Method: This study used survey data from 234 public service employees working in administrative, educational, and non-clinical healthcare institutions across three major cities in Türkiye (Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir). Participants who were frequently exposed to workplace bullying were selected to examine the detrimental cycle that victims experience. A moderated mediation model (PROCESS Model 7) was tested to examine emotion-focused coping as a mediating mechanism between workplace bullying and burnout, operationalized through emotional exhaustion, and to assess whether this indirect effect was conditional on perceived bystander silence. Results: Findings indicated that workplace bullying was associated with increased reliance on emotion-focused coping only when perceived bystander silence was high. The conditional indirect effect of workplace bullying on burnout via emotion-focused coping was significant at higher levels of bystander silence, whereas no indirect effect emerged under low silence conditions. Conclusions: These findings suggest that burnout does not arise as an automatic consequence of bullying exposure but unfolds through coping processes that are activated in socially silent environments. By highlighting the conditional role of bystander silence, this study emphasizes the value of social context in shaping how public service employees respond to workplace bullying and how burnout develops. We discuss the practical implications for organizational interventions that aim to reduce bystander silence and support healthier coping processes in organizations. Full article

Background: Self-criticism is a transdiagnostic factor associated with psychological distress and poorer outcomes in traditional psychotherapy, yet recent evidence suggests it may facilitate change in preventive and low-intensity interventions. This study examined the role of self-criticism in adherence, working alliance, and outcomes within NoiBene, a guided self-help program designed to promote well-being and prevent psychological distress among non-clinical university students. Methods: A total of 455 participants (82% female; M = 23.5 years) completed measures of internalized and comparative self-criticism, and key psychological processes (e.g., emotional awareness, rumination, worry, perfectionism, psychological inflexibility, and assertiveness) were assessed before and after the intervention. Adherence and working alliance were measured only after the intervention. Results: Contrary to evidence from clinical settings, severe self-criticism was not associated with increased dropout or weaker alliance. Instead, individuals with severe self-criticism exhibited the greatest improvements across multiple domains, suggesting a higher potential for therapeutic gain. Moreover, participants with moderate levels of both internalized and comparative self-criticism showed higher dropout and lower adherence. Conclusions: These findings indicate that, in preventive guided self-help contexts, self-criticism does not necessarily hinder engagement and outcomes and may, under certain conditions, function as a catalyst for change. Implications for tailoring digital preventive interventions and addressing dropout risk are discussed. Full article

Background: Post-psychotic depression (PPD) is an underestimated but clinically significant affective syndrome that occurs during remission from psychosis, particularly in schizophrenia. Material and Methods: This comprehensive review traces the evolution of this concept over five decades of research, starting from its initial differentiation from primary depression and schizoaffective disorders in the 1970s. Relying on more than thirty studies, we analyze historical definitions, biological and psychosocial mechanisms, diagnostic controversies, and therapeutic implications. Results: Research indicates that PPD develops from multiple contributing factors, including psychological insight, autobiographical disturbances, pharmacological influences, and social losses, rather than simply as a byproduct of psychosis or pharmacological treatment. We discuss the persistence of depressive symptoms after acute remission, their role in suicidal tendencies, and the diagnostic challenges arising from the overlap of negative symptoms and demoralization. Despite its exclusion from current diagnostic standards, PPD continues to affect a significant fraction of patients, particularly those with high insight and early onset. Conclusions: Effective treatment requires a multidimensional, phase-specific approach combining antidepressants, atypical antipsychotics such as lurasidone, and psychological interventions targeting identity, self-esteem, and narrative processing. We argue that PPD should be reintroduced as a distinct clinical unit and incorporated into psychiatric guidelines to reduce diagnostic oversights and improve patient outcomes. Full article

Background/Objectives: This qualitative study investigated the perspectives and lived experiences of individuals with obesity, with a specific focus on psychological needs, beliefs, attitudes, and experiences related to psychological support. The study aimed to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to adherence in weight management and to examine participants’ views on digital psychological interventions designed to promote mental health and well-being. These findings represent the preliminary phase of a broader research project aimed at developing and implementing personalized digital psychological interventions to enhance engagement, treatment effectiveness, and equity of care in obesity management. Methods: Five focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of 35 patients (48.6% female) diagnosed with obesity and enrolled in a four-week multidisciplinary weight-reduction program at the IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, San Giuseppe Hospital, Piancavallo (VB), Italy. Sessions were audio-recorded, supplemented with field notes, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify recurrent patterns of meaning across participants’ narratives. Results: Six overarching themes were identified: (1) obesity as an embodied and pervasive experience; (2) the interplay between emotions, weight stigma, and identity construction; (3) family and social relationships as both supportive and ambivalent; (4) personal agency and self-regulation processes in weight management; (5) access to healthcare services and experiences with healthcare professionals; and (6) the perceived role of psychological support within multidisciplinary care. Participants described obesity as a complex, multidimensional condition encompassing physical, emotional, relational, and contextual challenges that directly influence treatment engagement and adherence. Conclusions: Psychological support emerged as a central component of comprehensive obesity care. Findings underscore the need for personalized, flexible, and digitally supported psychological interventions to enhance long-term adherence, acceptability, and overall well-being. Full article

To evaluate the psycho-behavioral interaction during Ro-Ro ship evacuations, this paper proposes a coupled simulation model integrating psychological stress with behavior. The model quantifies stress through a function of local density, dwelling time, exit distance, and lifejacket retrieval waiting time, specifically accounting for the bottleneck effects during the donning phase. Using a psychological stress factor to dynamically adjust weight coefficients in the exit choice cost function, the study utilizes the AnyLogic platform to compare five scenes: shortest distance (S1), stress-induced acceleration (S2), perceptual-decay herding (S3), dynamic congestion avoidance (S4), and without retrieving lifejackets (S5). Results indicate: (1) S4 improves evacuation efficiency by 7.58% over S3 by maintaining perceptual intensity, while stress-driven acceleration (S2) shows limited effectiveness. (2) Early preparation exerts critical feedback; S4 enhances lifejacket retrieval efficiency by 14.31% over S3, alleviating initial stress and its cross-stage negative impacts. (3) Dynamic avoidance improves system resilience, keeping stressed passengers within 8.5% and breaking the “congestion-stress” vicious cycle. This study demonstrates that moderate stress must be coupled with rational exit choices. S4 effectively intervenes in stress accumulation, and S5 verified the necessity of the simulation process for retrieving lifejackets, providing a quantitative basis for resilient and robust Ro-Ro ship emergency planning and crew guidance. Full article

As AI-generated influencers increasingly dominate social media landscapes, their psychological impact on human users necessitates rigorous empirical investigation. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, this study examines how AI influencers influence the satisfaction and frustration of users’ basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Utilizing a netnographic approach, the research identifies three pivotal psychological mechanisms. The findings reveal a fundamental paradox characterized by a dual-path process; while AI influencers can meaningfully fulfill psychological needs through consistent presence and customizable narratives, they simultaneously risk undermining these needs when perceived as instruments of algorithmic surveillance, commercial orchestration, or emotional inauthenticity. This duality underscores the complexity of AI-mediated engagement, where the same technological affordances can lead to either psychological flourishing or digital alienation. These insights emphasize the urgency for responsible AI design that prioritizes user well-being over mere commercial conversion, offering critical implications for developers, marketers, and policymakers in the evolving era of AI-driven social interaction. Full article

Background: Autobiographical memory undergoes qualitative changes across the lifespan, influencing self-understanding, emotional regulation, and psychological adaptation. Research shows memory is a dynamic process, reconstructed through retrieval, narration, and social interaction. How narrative construction and empathic engagement shape memory reconsolidation and self-continuity remains insufficiently integrated. Objectives: This narrative review synthesizes theoretical, empirical, and applied findings on autobiographical memory, narrative processes, and empathy, proposing an integrative model linking memory reconsolidation, identity reconstruction, and adaptive functioning. Methods: A theory-oriented narrative review was conducted across psychology, neuroscience, gerontology, and narrative research, drawing on literature from PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, J-STAGE, and CiNii. Peer-reviewed empirical studies, systematic reviews, and theoretical papers were organized around three interrelated conceptual domains: (1) autobiographical memory and self-related processes, (2) neurobiological and emotional mechanisms relevant to memory updating and reconsolidation, and (3) narrative construction within empathically mediated social interaction contexts, with additional consideration of evidence from narrative-based and creative interventions. Results: The reviewed literature suggests that autobiographical memory functions as a plastic, socially embedded system supporting self-continuity, although the strength and consistency of evidence vary across studies and contexts. Narrativization within empathically responsive and psychologically safe contexts enhances narrative coherence, emotional integration, and perspective-taking, promoting psychological stability, although these effects are not uniformly observed across all populations and study designs. Creative narrative activities further facilitate retrieval and meaning reconstruction, extending memory updating beyond recall, while the underlying mechanisms and causal pathways remain to be fully established. Conclusions: We propose an empathy-mediated narrative reconstruction model in which creative activity, narration, empathic response, and retelling interact cyclically to support memory reconsolidation and self-narrative updating. By integrating cognitive, social, and creative dimensions, this model provides a theoretically grounded framework with implications for clinical, educational, gerontological, and creative applications. Full article

Background: Human wellbeing consists of dynamic interactions and feedback loops across multiple life domains, a perspective increasingly emphasised within positive psychology’s systemic and strengths-based approach to flourishing. This study develops a systemic framework to model these interdependencies and examines how cross-domain investment can optimise both domain-specific and integrated wellbeing across the lifespan. Methods: Using a Cobb–Douglas functional form with associated growth and resource constraints, we formalise the interaction between physical and financial wellbeing as an example and analyse their joint contribution to overall wellbeing. Results: The model demonstrates that improvements in one domain of wellbeing can enhance wellbeing in another, thereby shifting the optimisation frontier. While narrow domain-specific wellbeing strategies are subject to larger diminishing marginal returns, cross-domain investment generates reinforcing effects that elevate both domains simultaneously and increase integrated wellbeing. Conclusions: In line with positive psychology’s focus on leveraging strengths to support areas of relative weakness, the findings show how developing one domain of wellbeing can mitigate constraints in another. These findings align with positive psychology’s emphasis on multidimensional flourishing and resource-building processes, highlighting the importance of systemic resource allocation and suggesting that wellbeing optimisation requires coordinated, contextualised multi-domain strategies rather than siloed approaches. Full article