Browse Our Latest Psychology and Behavioral Science Journals
Psychological journals are peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journals that publish original work in some areas of psychology. The most common publications include cognitive, health and clinical psychology, applied, developmental, biological, social, experimental, and educational psychology, and psychoanalysis.
Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Background and aims
Despite a previously reported connection between compulsive sexual behaviors (CSB), such as problematic pornography use, and heightened cue-reactivity, empirical evidence of the alteration of processes responsible for increased salience attribution to erotic cues remains sparse. Drawing on similarities with addiction models, this study explores the neuronal mechanisms of CSB through the use of appetitive conditioning and extinction with erotic and monetary rewards.
Methods
Thirty-two heterosexual males struggling with CSB (age: 28.9 ± 7.1), and 31 healthy matched participants (age: 27.8 ± 5.6) underwent active appetitive conditioning and extinction tasks in fMRI. The effects of conditioning and extinction towards cues of erotic and monetary rewards were measured via self-assessment (valence and arousal rating towards cues), behavior (reaction times), and brain reactivity.
Results
In conditioning, subjective ratings increased, and reaction times were faster for both erotic and monetary cues among participants with CSB, along with altered activity in ventral striatum (vStr), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and anterior orbitofrontal cortex (aOFC). In extinction, self-assessment ratings remained elevated in the CSB group for both cues in a non-reward-specific fashion, accompanied by altered activity of dACC and vStr.
Discussion and conclusions
These findings suggest enhanced incentive salience attribution to conditioned cues, highlighting a generalized motivational and value-related transfer from rewards to the cues in participants with CSB. Additionally, despite the absence of rewards, the persistence of arousal and valence towards cues underscored the maladaptive extinction process. These insights advance the understanding of CSB's neurobiological underpinnings and its relation to addiction frameworks.
Abstract
Background and Aims
The digitalization of gambling provides unprecedented opportunities for early identification of problem gambling, a well-recognized public health issue. This study aimed to advance current practices by employing advanced machine learning techniques to predict problem gambling behaviors and assess the temporal stability of these predictions.
Methods
We analyzed player account data from a major Swedish online gambling provider, covering a 4.5-year period. Feature engineering was applied to capture gambling behavior dynamics. We trained machine learning models, XGBoost, to classify players into low-risk and higher-risk categories. Temporal stability was evaluated by progressively truncating the training dataset at various time points (30, 60, and 90 days) and assessing model performance across truncations.
Results
The models demonstrated considerable predictive accuracy and temporal stability. Key features such as loss-chasing behavior and net balance trend consistently contributed to accurate predictions across all truncation periods. The model's performance evaluated on a separate holdout set, measured by metrics like F1 score and ROC AUC, remained robust, with no significant decline observed even with reduced data, supporting the feasibility of early and reliable detection.
Discussion and Conclusions
These findings indicate that machine learning can reliably predict problem gambling behaviors over time, offering a scalable alternative to traditional methods. Temporal stability highlights their potential for real-time application in gambling operators' Duty of Care. Consequently, advanced techniques could strengthen early identification and intervention strategies, potentially improving public health outcomes by preventing the escalation of harmful behaviors.
Abstract
Background
While the empirical data on the role of environmental factors in work addiction (WA) is steadily growing, little is known about the extent to which the workaholic environment contributes to the increased risk of WA and what are the relative contributions of direct supervisor's and colleagues' WA to one's own workaholism.
Methods
The Perceived Coworkers' Work Addiction Scale (PCWAS) assessing perceived direct supervisor's and colleagues' WA, defined as an addictive disorder, was administered alongside measures of WA, job stress, and job satisfaction in a total sample of 33,222 employees from 85 cultures across six continents (63.2% females, mean age 39.35 years).
Results
The PCWAS showed scalar measurement invariance between genders and job positions, and approximate measurement invariance across cultures. In most cultures, the perceived supervisor's and colleagues' WA correlated with one's own WA, job stress (positively), and job satisfaction (negatively). In structural equation models, perceived colleagues' rather than supervisor's WA was more strongly related to one's own WA and job stress in most cultures.
Discussion and conclusions
These findings suggest that the PCWAS is valid and reliable for assessing the workaholic environment, and it can be used globally to provide comparable and generalizable results. The present study is the first to show that WA may considerably depend on environmental factors in different cultures worldwide and that perceived colleagues' WA may play a particularly important role in this context. These findings may guide organizational interventions to decrease WA risks among employees and improve their well-being and productivity.
Abstract
In this article, we provide a genealogy of the concept of integration and a discussion of the multiplicity of practices it encompasses in the field of psychedelic medicine. Reflecting on our observations of psychedelic integration practices, we make three key observations. The first is that integration services tend to focus on the individual, at the expense of considering how societal factors lead to dis-ease. The second observation is that integration is increasingly rendered in formulaic checklists, at the expense of remaining an open-ended praxis, which runs the risk of emptying it of their potential to bring context-dependent change for people. Our third observation is that integration services are increasingly rendered as marketable services. Understanding how we got here and what is at stake requires a genealogical analysis of integration within the field of psychedelics. This critical review of psychedelic integration discusses the divergence between psychedelic practices in traditional or Indigenous contexts and contemporary psychedelic practices in Western industrialized, capitalist societies. We suggest that this divergence has to do with the degree to which psychedelic experiences are contiguous with everyday sociality and the cosmology that dominates in a given social context. Offering a viewpoint grounded in the Global South, our perspective aims to denaturalize some of the assumptions that prevail in research settings where highly individualized approaches and technological solutionism prevail, such as the USA or Western Europe. We highlighted the dangers of integration becoming too formulaic, commodified, and disconnected from the therapeutic or ceremonial contexts in which psychedelic experiences were carefully curated for millennia. Furthermore, we underscored the importance of critically examining the assumptions underlying the infrastructures of digital psychedelia and app-based integration practices.
Abstract
Background and aims
Despite the last decade's significant development in the scientific study of work addiction/workaholism, this area of research is still facing a fundamental challenge, namely the need for a valid and reliable measurement tool that shows cross-cultural invariance and, as such, allows for worldwide studies on this phenomenon.
Methods
An initial 16-item questionnaire, developed within an addiction framework, was administered alongside job stress, job satisfaction, and self-esteem measures in a total sample of 31,352 employees from six continents and 85 cultures (63.5% females, mean age of 39.24 years).
Results
Based on theoretical premises and psychometric testing, the International Work Addiction Scale (IWAS) was developed as a short measure representing essential features of work addiction. The seven-item version (IWAS-7), covering all seven components of work addiction, showed partial scalar invariance across 81 cultures, while the five-item version (IWAS-5) showed it across all 85 cultures. Higher levels of work addiction on both versions were associated with higher job stress, lower job satisfaction, and lower self-esteem across cultures. The optimal cut-offs for the IWAS-7 (24 points) and IWAS-5 (18 points) were established with an overall accuracy of 96% for both versions.
Discussion and conclusions
The IWAS is a valid, reliable, and short screening scale that can be used in different cultures and languages, providing comparative and generalizable results. The scale can be used globally in clinical and organizational settings, with the IWAS-5 being recommended for most practical and clinical situations. This is the first study to provide data supporting the hypothesis that work addiction is a universal phenomenon worldwide.
Abstract
This commentary explores public priorities in psychedelic research, drawing insights from extensive conversations between the author and the general public during lectures and seminars across the UK. Two primary themes emerged from this exchange: areas where further research is desired and concerns about the current direction of psychedelic research. Key topics of interest include psychedelics' effects on neurodivergent individuals, ageing, pain management, cognitive enhancement, psychosis, and interactions with the female menstrual cycle. Areas of concern pertain to the involvement of pharmaceutical companies in psychedelics research, the potential medicalisation of psychedelics, and the growing interest in psychedelic tourism. The commentary emphasises the need for a constant dialogue between scientists and the public, critical engagement with research and the integration of diverse perspectives in order to foster a broader understanding of psychedelics and their potential applications in this rapidly evolving field.
A szervezeti adaptabilitás és az otthoni munkavégzés lehetőségének hatása az észlelt stressz, magányosság és általános jóllét kapcsán
The impact of organisational adaptability and the ability to work from home on perceived stress, loneliness and general well-being
Háttér és célkitűzések: A 21. századi szervezeteket a folyamatos és rendkívül gyors változás jellemzi. A világjárvány idején a szervezeti rugalmasság kérdésköre még nagyobb prioritást élvezett, amely a szervezet működésének kulcskritériumát is jelentette egyben. A rugalmasság nemcsak a munkavégzés módjára (online, távmunka, munkaidő-kedvezmények), hanem a szervezeti tanulásra és a változásokra való fogékonyságra is kiterjed. Mindezzel szorosan összefonódva a munkavállalói egészségvédelem és a mentális jóllét is előtérbe került. A korábbi szakirodalmi eredményeket alapul véve jelen kutatás célja volt, hogy feltárjuk a szervezeti rugalmasság különböző aspektusait a munkavállalói jóllét szempontjából. A változásra és tanulásra fókuszáló szervezeti kultúrát, valamint egy rugalmas szervezeti intézkedést, a távoli munkavégzés hatásait vizsgáltuk meg részletesebben. Módszer: Kutatásunk 203 fő magyar munkavállaló bevonásával zajlott, amely során a pandémia után tapasztalt megváltozott munkavégzési sajátosságokat és a munkavállalói jóllét aspektusait vizsgáltuk. Az adatgyűjtéshez a Denison Organizational Culture Profile (OCP) adaptabilitás skáláját, valamint a munkavállalói észlelt stressz kérdőívet (PSS), a WHO általános jóllét kérdőívét (WHO10) és az UCLA Loneliness Scale (Magányosság Skála) 8 itemes verzióját használtuk. Emellett rákérdeztünk arra, hogy a kitöltő az elmúlt két hónap során milyen gyakran végezte a munkáját otthonából. Eredmények: Az adatelemzés során Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) eljárást alkalmaztunk egy elméleti modell felállítása céljából, amely a szervezeti adaptabilitás és az otthoni munkavégzés hatásainak mechanizmusait tárja fel a munkavállalói jóllét látens változói kapcsán. Ezen belül egy multigroup elemzést is végeztünk a nemi különbségek feltárására. Következtetések: A SEM elemzés során erős modellilleszkedést találtunk, illetve kimutatható volt, hogy a szervezeti adaptabilitás pozitívan hat a munkavállalói jóllétre, míg az otthoni munkavégzésnek nincsenek szignifikáns hatásai. A multigroup elemzés során feltárult az otthoni munkavégzés nőkre és férfiakra nézve eltérő hatása. Míg a nők esetében nem találtunk szignifikáns hatást (nem szignifikáns fordított korrelációt igen), addig a férfiak esetében egy közepes erősségű pozitív kapcsolat rajzolódott ki a munkavállalói jóllét kapcsán, amely eredmény illeszkedik a korábbi nemzetközi kutatások eredményeihez is.
Abstract
Aim
This study aimed to examine the influence of state boredom on craving for smartphone use, as well as the potential moderating effect of individual differences - fear of missing out (FoMO).
Methods
A total of 112 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either low or high state boredom groups. Participants completed a reference copying task along with assessments for state boredom, craving for smartphone use, and FoMO.
Results
The results indicated that: (1) Participants in the high state boredom group reported higher levels of background craving for smartphone use; (2) The FoMO moderated the association between state boredom and background craving for smartphone use significantly, which was stronger for individuals with a higher level of FoMO.
Discussion
This study broadened the research by focusing on the influences of boredom and the mechanism of smartphone use craving and problematic phone use, which could provide guidance for the intervention of craving, and healthy smartphone use.
