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Summary: People are more likely to adapt their behavior if they believe their actions are reflective of how society is changing, a new study reports.

Source: Stanford.

Whether it be for the environment, one’s health or other important causes, convincing people to adopt new or uncommon behaviors can be difficult. One reason is that societal norms powerfully reinforce the status quo.

Stanford researchers suggest a subtle shift in messaging can help. In new research that appeared Sept. 29 in Psychological Science, they find that focusing on how norms are changing can help people alter their behaviors.

“One question we’re interested in from a psychological standpoint,” said Gregg Sparkman, a doctoral student in psychology at Stanford and the paper’s lead author, “is how social change happens. What leads people to overturn a status quo?”

He points out that although change usually happens slowly, it does happen, and perhaps more frequently than we notice. For example, seat belt use was once a nuisance, but now it’s standard practice. Smoking in restaurants and other public places was once commonplace, but has declined.

The question for the researchers is what factors influence people to make those changes.

Dynamic vs. static norms

Past research on how social norms influence behavior has focused on seemingly static views of how most people behave, according to Greg Walton, associate professor of psychology and the study’s senior author. Sparkman and Walton’s research, however, tests how people behave when they think the norm is changing.

“Showing how norms are changing can give people a model of how they can change too, and lead to a circumstance where many people change,” said Walton.

The researchers conducted four experiments relating to meat consumption, a norm Sparkman described as “well-rooted, highly visible and something you do every day in the presence of others.” It’s also a norm that has a huge negative impact on the environment, as livestock consume large volumes of water and emit greenhouse gases.

In one experiment, participants from across the United States read two statements about eating less meat. One statement (static) described how some Americans are currently trying to eat less meat, while the other statement (dynamic) described how some Americans are changing and now eat less meat.

The participants who read the dynamic statement reported more interest in reducing their meat consumption than those who read the static one. Those participants reported anticipating that this change would continue into the future – leading them to conform to that future norm.

Another experiment tested people’s likelihood to order a meat-based lunch. People standing in line at a Stanford campus café read statements describing how some people “limit how much meat they eat” (static) or “are starting to limit how much meat they eat” (dynamic). Lunch goers who read the dynamic statement were twice as likely to order a meatless meal than those in the static group (34 percent compared to 17 percent).

Less is sometimes more

An important aspect of these studies, the researchers said, is that participants were never asked to change their behavior, or even told the benefits of doing so.

“We didn’t ask people to not eat meat or eat less meat,” Walton said. “They’re just given information about change.”

The researchers also conducted an experiment involving conserving water during the recent California drought. They posted signs in laundry facilities at high-rise residences of Stanford graduate students with static messages (“Most Stanford Residents Use Full Loads/Help Stanford Conserve Water”) or dynamic messages (“Stanford Residents Are Changing: Now Most Use Full Loads/Help Stanford Conserve Water). While the number of laundry loads were unaffected in buildings with no signs over the next three weeks, there was a 10 percent reduction among those who saw the static message, and nearly a 30 percent reduction for those who saw the dynamic message.

The next question, Sparkman said, is to see whether it is possible to apply this method to other sustainability initiatives like curbing electricity usage and promoting policy support for new laws, such as those to reduce the gender gap in wages.

“Dynamic norms may play a large role in social change,” Sparkman said. “Just learning that other people are changing can instigate all these psychological processes that motivate further change. People can begin to think that change is possible, that change is important and that in the future, the norms will be different. And then, if they become persuaded and decide to change, it starts to become a reality.”

Source: Milenko Martinovich – Stanford
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is adapted from the Stanford news release.
Original Research: Abstract for “Dynamic Norms Promote Sustainable Behavior, Even if It Is Counternormative” by Gregg Sparkman and Gregory M. Walton in Psychological Science. Published online September 29 2017 doi:10.1177/0956797617719950

Abstract

Dynamic Norms Promote Sustainable Behavior, Even if It Is Counternormative

It is well known that people conform to normative information about other people’s current attitudes and behaviors. Do they also conform to dynamic norms—information about how other people’s behavior is changing over time? We investigated this question in three online and two field experiments. Experiments 1 through 4 examined high levels of meat consumption, a normative and salient behavior that is decreasing in the United States. Dynamic norms motivated change despite prevailing static norms, increasing interest in eating less meat (Experiments 1–3) and doubling meatless orders at a café (Experiment 4). Mediators included the anticipation of less meat eating in the future (preconformity) and the inference that reducing meat consumption mattered to other people (Experiments 2 and 3). In Experiment 5, we took advantage of a natural comparison to provide evidence that dynamic norms can also strengthen social-norm interventions when the static norm is positive; a positive dynamic norm resulted in reduced laundry loads and water use over 3 weeks during a drought.

“Dynamic Norms Promote Sustainable Behavior, Even if It Is Counternormative” by Gregg Sparkman and Gregory M. Walton in Psychological Science. Published online September 29 2017 doi:10.1177/0956797617719950

Summary: A new study reveals schizophrenia is up to 79% hereditary.

Source: Elsevier.

A new study in Biological Psychiatry looks at the risk for schizophrenia in twins.

In the largest study of twins in schizophrenia research to date, researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, estimate that as much as 79% of schizophrenia risk may be explained by genetic factors. The estimate indicates that genetics have a substantial influence on risk for the disorder.

Published in Biological Psychiatry, the study used a new statistical approach to address one of the factors that contributes to inconsistencies across previous studies-usually studies of heritability require that people be classified as either having schizophrenia or not, but some people at risk could still develop the disease after the study ends. Drs. Hilker, Helenius and colleagues applied a new method to take this problem into account, making the current estimates likely the most accurate to date.

“The new estimate of heritability of schizophrenia, 79%, is very close to the high end of prior estimates of its heritability,” said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry, referring to previous estimates that have varied between 50% and 80%. “It supports the intensive efforts in place to try to identify the genes contributing to the risk for developing schizophrenia,” said Dr. Krystal, which have been built on the idea that schizophrenia is highly heritable based on the findings of generations of twin studies.

The study took advantage of the nationwide Danish Twin Register-a record of all twins born in Denmark since 1870-coupled with information from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register, to assess genetic liability in over 30,000 pairs of twins.

Because the diagnosis of schizophrenia is based on a narrow definition of symptoms, the researchers also estimated heritability using a broader illness category including related disorders on the schizophrenia spectrum. They found a similar estimate of 73%, indicating the importance of genetic factors across the full illness spectrum.

Dr. Hilker explained, “This study is now the most comprehensive and thorough estimate of the heritability of schizophrenia and its diagnostic diversity. It is interesting since it indicates that the genetic risk for disease seems to be of almost equal importance across the spectrum of schizophrenia,” even though the clinical presentation may range from severe symptoms with lifelong disability to more subtle and transient symptoms. “Hence, genetic risk seems not restricted to a narrow illness definition, but instead includes a broader diagnostic profile,” she added.

Source: Elsevier
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Full open access research for “Heritability of Schizophrenia and Schizophrenia Spectrum Based on the Nationwide Danish Twin Register” by Rikke Hilker, Dorte Helenius, Birgitte Fagerlund, Axel Skytthe, Kaare Christensen, Thomas M. Werge, Merete Nordentoft, and Birte Glenthøj in Biological Psychiatry. Published online August 30 2017 doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.08.017

Abstract

Heritability of Schizophrenia and Schizophrenia Spectrum Based on the Nationwide Danish Twin Register

Background
Twin studies have provided evidence that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to schizophrenia (SZ) risk. Heritability estimates of SZ in twin samples have varied methodologically. This study provides updated heritability estimates based on nationwide twin data and an improved statistical methodology.

Methods
Combining two nationwide registers, the Danish Twin Register and the Danish Psychiatric Research Register, we identified a sample of twins born between 1951 and 2000 (N = 31,524 twin pairs). Twins were followed until June 1, 2011. Liability threshold models adjusting for censoring with inverse probability weighting were used to estimate probandwise concordance rates and heritability of the diagnoses of SZ and SZ spectrum disorders.

Results
The probandwise concordance rate of SZ is 33% in monozygotic twins and 7% in dizygotic twins. We estimated the heritability of SZ to be 79%. When expanding illness outcome to include SZ spectrum disorders, the heritability estimate was almost similar (73%).

Conclusions
The key strength of this study is the application of a novel statistical method accounting for censoring in the follow-up period to a nationwide twin sample. The estimated 79% heritability of SZ is congruent with previous reports and indicates a substantial genetic risk. The high genetic risk also applies to a broader phenotype of SZ spectrum disorders. The low concordance rate of 33% in monozygotic twins demonstrates that illness vulnerability is not solely indicated by genetic factors.

“Heritability of Schizophrenia and Schizophrenia Spectrum Based on the Nationwide Danish Twin Register” by Rikke Hilker, Dorte Helenius, Birgitte Fagerlund, Axel Skytthe, Kaare Christensen, Thomas M. Werge, Merete Nordentoft, and Birte Glenthøj in Biological Psychiatry. Published online August 30 2017 doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.08.017

Summary: Mindfulness and meditation can affect brain plasticity, resulting in the ability for adults to acquire new social skills, researchers report.

Source: Max Planck Institute.

The human brain is able to change and adapt to new conditions throughout life. Scientists refer to this capacity as plasticity. Until recently, it was unclear to what extent areas of the brain that control social behaviour also possess this ability. To find out, a research team led by Tania Singer, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, developed methods for training social skills and measured their effects on the behaviour of study subjects, their brain structures and their hormonal balance. Two important findings have now been published in the journal Science Advances.

Meditation is beneficial for the body and mind. Though this may sound trite, it has in fact been demonstrated in a number of studies on the effects of mindfulness training. However, the terms meditation and mindfulness cover a gamut of mental techniques that aim to cultivate a broad range of skills. Despite growing interest in meditation research, it is still unclear which mental training techniques are particularly suitable for enhancing awareness and mindfulness as well as social skills such as compassion and cognitive perspective-taking. Another key question concerns the extent to which these various mental training methods lead to structural brain changes in neural networks underlying the exercised skills in adults. It is also unknown which mental techniques reduce psychosocial stress most effectively at the hormonal level. To find answers to all these questions, a team of researchers in the Social Brain Science Department of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, led by Tania Singer, investigated how various meditation techniques for developing mental and social skills affect the brain and the body.

For the large-scale research project, called ReSource, Tania Singer, together with international experts, developed three three-month-long training sessions, each concentrating on a specific skill area. The first module focussed on the factors of awareness and mindfulness. During classical meditation exercises used in this module, the subjects, each on his or her own, practised focussing solely on breathing, sensory impressions or specific parts of the body.

The second module paid particular attention to what are known as socio-affective skills, such as compassion, gratitude and dealing with difficult emotions. The special thing about this module is that, in contrast to the mindfulness exercises, a new technique was used in which two people train together. In partner-based exercises, known as contemplative dyads, the subjects focussed on sharing their emotions in order to train closeness, gratitude, empathy and the ability to handle everyday stress factors.

In the third module, the participants cultivated their social skills – or more precisely their socio-cognitive skills –in particular their ability to assume perspectives, i.e. to take a bird’s-eye view of their own and others’ thought processes. Here, too, the participants trained in dyads in addition to doing classical meditation exercises. To this end, they assumed the role of one of their inner personality parts in their mind – whether the concerned mother, the curious child or the strict judge – and described a situation from the perspective of that personality part. Thus, while the speaker practised self-understanding, the listener practised shifting into the perspective and cognitive world of another person. The concept of inner personality parts relates to the work of Richard Schwarz, who devised the model of the “inner family system”, which assumes the presence of a multitude of inner personality parts in every individual. Under the guidance of the trainers, the participants developed their personality parts as a basis for training.

The participants performed the exercises for 30 minutes a day, six days a week. After each of the three units, the researchers tested the participants’ training-induced behavioural changes. They also measured changes in the brain structure by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and checked the stress system by means of numerous biomarkers, such as the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva.

Each technique has its own effects on brain plasticity

And in fact: “Depending on the mental training method used for three months, the brain structure in the associated areas as well as the related behaviours changed. After the first training module, the subjects showed growth of the cerebral cortex in the areas responsible for mindfulness. At the same time, their mindfulness had improved in computer tests. However, their compassion and ability to change perspectives did not increase. The latter required the social training modules,” explains Sofie Valk, lead author of the original publication, which appeared in the journal Science Advances.

“In the two other modules, which trained either socio-emotional or socio-cognitive skills, we observed that compassion or cognitive perspective-taking were selectively enhanced, and that these improved social skills were associated with increased cortex thickness in those regions that process compassion or changes in perspective,” says the Dutch-born researcher. “Although research into the plasticity of the brain, meaning its ability to change, has always played a central role in the neurosciences, very little was known about the plasticity of the social brain,” explains Tania Singer, head of the ReSource project. “Our findings now clearly show that short, targeted daily mental training can still bring about structural changes in the adult brain, which in turn lead to an improvement in social intelligence. Since attributes such as empathy, compassion and perspective-taking are essential for successful social interactions, conflict resolution and cooperation, these findings could prove highly relevant to our educational system.”

Stress also decreased depending on the method

The various forms of mental training appear to have different effects not only on the brain but also on stress levels. “We discovered that in a test in which the subjects were exposed to a stressful performance situation, they released up to 51 percent less of the stress hormone cortisol. However, this depended on the mental technique that was previously exercised,” explains Veronika Engert, lead author of another study recently published in Science Advances which dealt with the relationship between mental training and acute stress reactions. “The two training modules that focussed on social skills reduced cortisol levels significantly. By contrast, the only module designed to enhance awareness and mindfulness failed to lessen social stress at the hormonal level. We suspect that stress levels were reduced primarily by the ten-minute daily social interactions in the dyad exercises. To open oneself on a regular basis to a stranger and to learn to listen to another person without prejudice probably led to a kind of immunization against social stress, because social stress results largely from a fear of negative judgment by others. However, targeted mindfulness training does not appear to reduce this kind of social stress.”

An interesting finding was that subjectively, the subjects felt less stress after each of the three training sessions. Objectively, however, their stress exposure, as measured by their cortisol levels, diminished significantly only when they interacted with others during the social training sessions designed to exercise intersubjective skills.

“Observation of the brain, the behaviour and the stress response of the participants shows not only that social skills can be exercised and stress reduced, but also that various forms of mental training can have very different effects on the brain, health and behaviour,” Tania Singer explains. “If we know exactly which meditation exercises and mental techniques are effective, we can use them in a much more targeted manner in training programmes to enhance mental and physical health.” Thus, the results show that frequently practised basic mindfulness techniques are the most suitable methods for increasing awareness and performance in various cognitive areas. However, if your aim is to be less prone to social stress in everyday life or to enhance your social skills, such as empathy, compassion, and perspective-taking, you should use other mental training techniques that focus on the “we” and the social bond between people.

The ReSource project explores how various forms of mental training can help promote social, emotional and cognitive abilities and how this, in turn, affects health, the body and the brain. It is the largest project of its kind in the world.

Source: Verena Müller – Max Planck Institute
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Tania Singer, MPI for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences.
Original Research: Abstract for “Structural plasticity of the social brain: Differential change after socio-affective and cognitive mental training” by Sofie L. Valk, Boris C. Bernhardt, Fynn-Mathis Trautwein, Anne Böckler, Philipp Kanske, Nicolas Guizard, Louis Collins, and Tania Singer in Science Advances. Published online October 4 2017 doi:10.1126/sciadv.1700489

Abstract

Structural plasticity of the social brain: Differential change after socio-affective and cognitive mental training

Although neuroscientific research has revealed experience-dependent brain changes across the life span in sensory, motor, and cognitive domains, plasticity relating to social capacities remains largely unknown. To investigate whether the targeted mental training of different cognitive and social skills can induce specific changes in brain morphology, we collected longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data throughout a 9-month mental training intervention from a large sample of adults between 20 and 55 years of age. By means of various daily mental exercises and weekly instructed group sessions, training protocols specifically addressed three functional domains: (i) mindfulness-based attention and interoception, (ii) socio-affective skills (compassion, dealing with difficult emotions, and prosocial motivation), and (iii) socio-cognitive skills (cognitive perspective-taking on self and others and metacognition). MRI-based cortical thickness analyses, contrasting the different training modules against each other, indicated spatially diverging changes in cortical morphology. Training of present-moment focused attention mostly led to increases in cortical thickness in prefrontal regions, socio-affective training induced plasticity in frontoinsular regions, and socio-cognitive training included change in inferior frontal and lateral temporal cortices. Module-specific structural brain changes correlated with training-induced behavioral improvements in the same individuals in domain-specific measures of attention, compassion, and cognitive perspective-taking, respectively, and overlapped with task-relevant functional networks. Our longitudinal findings indicate structural plasticity in well-known socio-affective and socio-cognitive brain networks in healthy adults based on targeted short daily mental practices. These findings could promote the development of evidence-based mental training interventions in clinical, educational, and corporate settings aimed at cultivating social intelligence, prosocial motivation, and cooperation.

“Structural plasticity of the social brain: Differential change after socio-affective and cognitive mental training” by Sofie L. Valk, Boris C. Bernhardt, Fynn-Mathis Trautwein, Anne Böckler, Philipp Kanske, Nicolas Guizard, Louis Collins, and Tania Singer in Science Advances. Published online October 4 2017 doi:10.1126/sciadv.1700489