New research shows link between politics, boredom and breaking public-health rules
2021-06-10
(Press-News.org) People who are more prone to boredom and who are socially conservative are more likely to break public-health rules, according to new psychology research.
While previous research demonstrated a connection between being highly prone to boredom and breaking social-distancing rules, this study demonstrated the association was more prominent as participants' social conservatism increased.
"Many public-health measures such as wearing a mask or getting a vaccine have become highly politicized," said James Danckert, professor of psychology at the University of Waterloo. "People who find these measures a threat to their identity, and who suffer from boredom a lot, find breaking the rules helps them re-establish a sense of meaning and identity. Boredom threatens our need to make meaning out of life and some things such as politics can strengthen our sense of identity and meaning."
For the study, researchers asked more than 900 people to respond to questions about boredom, political ideology and adhering to public-health measures such as wearing a mask or not socializing outside one's household. They then applied a variety of statistical analysis techniques to explore the relations that underly these elements.
As the pandemic continues, the work has implications for public-health policy and communications. For instance, focusing on what people can do rather than what they are restricted from doing. Such messaging could help provide a more positive framework to help people ground their sense of identity and control.
"Many of the restrictions have become heavily politicized and much of the messaging from governments has focused on personal responsibility," Danckert said. "But this can become finger pointing and blaming and most of us recoil from that. What we need is to promote our shared values - the things we all have in common and the positive things we can get back if we all pull together.
"It can be difficult for some people to cope with boredom and that can have serious consequences for an individual and for society at large. Boredom is not a trivial experience - it's worth paying attention to it."
INFORMATION:
The study, Boredom proneness, political orientation and adherence to social-distancing in the pandemic, appeared in the journal Motivation and Emotion and is a collaboration of researchers from the University of Waterloo, Duke University and Essex University.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-06-10
PITTSBURGH, June 10, 2021 - Americans are consuming more craft beer with higher alcohol content but are drinking less beer by volume, according to a new analysis led by epidemiologists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
The study, published online and in a coming issue of the journal Substance Use & Misuse, looked at beer purchased in stores between 2004 and 2014. This is the first study to examine trends not only in the volume of beer purchased, but also the "beer specific" alcohol content.
"With the rise in popularity of craft breweries and the acquisition of such breweries by large-scale ...
2021-06-10
India's national government has inappropriately prioritised people for covid-19 vaccination
Current approach is causing huge numbers of avertable deaths, warn experts
India's national government has inappropriately prioritised people for covid-19 vaccination, argue doctors and researchers in The BMJ today.
Peter Lloyd-Sherlock and colleagues warn that the government's current approach to vaccination - focusing on younger age groups - "is causing huge numbers of avertable deaths and is deeply inequitable."
From 3 May to 5 June 2021, more first doses were administered to people under 45 than over 60, even though at ...
2021-06-10
HOUSTON -- Results from the multi-cohort Phase I/II ARROW clinical trial, conducted by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers, showed that a once-daily dose of pralsetinib, a highly selective RET inhibitor, was safe and effective in treating patients with advanced RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and RET-altered thyroid cancer. The findings for each cohort were published today in The Lancet Oncology and The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, respectively.
"Targeted therapies have dramatically improved care for patients with NSCLC and thyroid cancer driven by oncogenes, and the rapid clinical translation of selective RET inhibitor ...
2021-06-10
The moons of planets that have no parent star can possess an atmosphere and retain liquid water. Astrophysicists at LMU have calculated that such systems could harbor sufficient water to make life possible - and sustain it.
Water - in liquid form - is the elixir of life. It made life possible on Earth and is indispensable for the continuing existence of living systems on the planet. This explains why scientists are constantly on the lookout for evidence of water on other solid bodies in the Universe. Up to now, however, the existence of liquid water on planets other than Earth has not been directly proven. However, ...
2021-06-10
The increased use of ridesharing apps was linked to a decrease in motor vehicle collisions and impaired driving convictions in Houston, according to published research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
The findings were published today in JAMA Surgery.
Christopher Conner, MD, PhD, neurosurgery resident in the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth and the study's lead author, said the research is timely as more individuals are utilizing ridesharing apps.
"Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death and disability among young people, so anything we can do to reduce those incidents ...
2021-06-10
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men, according to the American Cancer Society. It's also one of the trickiest cancers to diagnose and treat.
But new research from the University of Georgia has identified a protein that appears to prevent the cancer from spreading to and colonizing the bone, providing a new target for future therapeutics.
"Unfortunately, prostate cancer that has spread to the bone is very aggressive, often lethal and very difficult to treat," said Brian Cummings, corresponding author of the study and head of the College of Pharmacy's pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences department. "Even in cases of successful treatment, the patient's quality of life is severely lessened due to bone loss."
Prostate cancer that hasn't spread beyond nearby ...
2021-06-10
There are still many unsolved mysteries about the human brain and its development. Now, a novel study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry sheds new light on the neurobiological origins of our individual traits.
Functional connectivity is the coordinated activity - activation or deactivation - through time between separate brain regions, regardless of their physical closeness or the type of neural connections between them. Changes in functional connectivity can be a sign of mental health disorders such as depression, eating disorders, and schizophrenia, and are thought to have developmental origins.
We know that mental health is characterized by three functional brain networks. The first is hypoconnectivity ...
2021-06-10
People who have a high sensation-seeking personality trait may be more likely to develop an addiction to cocaine, according to a Rutgers study.
"Although many people try illicit drugs like cocaine or heroin, only a small proportion develop an addiction," said lead author Morgan James, a member of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute and an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. "The interaction found between sensation-seeking traits and the drug-taking experience show that predisposition to addiction has a genetic basis, and that this interacts with environmental factors such as patterns of drug use. The sensation-seeking trait was predictive of rats' likelihood to exhibit stronger ...
2021-06-10
For older adults, participating in social activities can protect against physical and mental signs of aging, but it may also pose risks, especially for women.
A new analysis of national data led by UC San Francisco found that older women who were broadly engaged in social activities before the COVID pandemic had 76 percent higher odds of experiencing emotional abuse or mistreatment than women who were less engaged.
The paper is published June 9, 2021 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
"Given widespread discussion about the negative effects of social isolation of ...
2021-06-10
Research from the University of Washington shows that endangered blue whales are present and singing off the southwest coast of India. The results suggest that conservation measures should include this region, which is considering expanding tourism.
Analysis of recordings from late 2018 to early 2020 in Lakshadweep, an archipelago of 36 low-lying islands west of the Indian state of Kerala, detected whales with a peak activity in April and May.
The study was published in May in the journal Marine Mammal Science.
"The presence of blue whales in Indian waters is well known from several strandings and some live sightings of blue whales," said lead author Divya Panicker, a ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] New research shows link between politics, boredom and breaking public-health rules
