The present study investigated whether young children trust selectively by considering why others may provide inaccurate information. Previous research indicates that children select others who are reliable as informants. However, it is unknown whether children consider the reasons for other’s inaccuracy in situations where the speaker’s response tendency is consistent. In this study, children (N = 40) aged 3 to 6 years chose who to trust between two inaccurate informants. One informant was inaccurate because of wearing a blindfold, whereas the other was inaccurate for no obvious reason. Children didn’t show a preference for either informant. Furthermore, it was revealed that age differences were material in understanding the relationship between information access and the speaker’s accuracy. This finding supports the contention that children do not consider why informants may be inaccurate when choosing whom to trust.

This study investigated the replicability and theoretical validity of terror management theory (TMT). The proposition that mortality salience (MS) leads humans to defend their cultural worldviews has found support in Western cultures. This finding was also replicated in Japan, a non-Western culture (Heine et al., 2002); however, there are limited findings of Japan. The meaning maintenance model proposes that cultural worldview defense is the result of meaning violation (MV) rather than anxiety of death. To investigate TMT in Japan, we conducted an internet survey among people in their 20s and 50s. We examined the effects of three experimental manipulations (MS, MV, and control) on cultural worldview defense. Results indicated that individuals in their 50s in the MS condition had a reaction opposite to the one described by Heine et al. (2002) and MV manipulation showed no effect. This suggests that cultural worldview defense did not occur in Japanese individuals.

The purpose of the present study is to clarify the process by which aspects of alexithymia lead to internal and external adaptation (which consists of over-adaptation) by examining hypothetical model focused on perceived stress and fear of negative evaluation (FNE). Previous studies suggested that alexithymia, particularly the two characteristics of difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings, may be related to over-adaptation and lead to physical and psychological problems. However, the process by which this occurs remains unclear and as a result, little progress has been made in finding an approach for improving over-adaptation. In order to establish such an approach, we conducted an online survey targeting a wide range of age groups and examined the hypothetical model. The results of a path analysis generally supported the model, which suggested that FNE and perceived stress have a mediating role and that FNE, in particular, has a strong influence on each aspect of over-adaptation. These results imply that approaches targeting reduction of FNE and stress might be important for improving over-adaptation.

Population ageing—a global social issue—is one of the principal challenges of the future, at least in the next few decades. Because dysfunctions arise in auditory sensory processing and visual sensory processing during healthy ageing, the function of audiovisual integration (AVI), the process of integrating auditory and visual information to correctly perceive the external environment, is also considerably altered throughout one’s lifespan. Some studies have suggested the application of multisensory perception in developing rehabilitation methods for elderly adults. Therefore, it is crucial to understand what changes occur and how the ageing brain compensates for these changes. However, because of the inherent complexity of unisensory perceptions and multisensory integration, thus far, there have been no systematic investigations on this matter. To shed light on the basic mechanisms involved in the influence of age on AVI, this comprehensive literature review summarizes the current behavioural and neural studies on AVI in ageing and discusses directions for future investigation.

The relationship between social status and consumption behavior has consistently drawn attention in consumption research. Previous studies have explored the relationship between social status and consumer behavior from behavioral perspective. However, less study has explored this relationship from the viewpoint of the cognitive process to date. Therefore, two experiments were performed to explore whether high- or low-social-status affects the cognitive process of consumption. We sorted products to be labeled as hedonic or utilitarian products based on spiritual needs and utilitarian needs, respectively. Study 1 demonstrates that, within low-social-status groups, attention is biased toward hedonic over utilitarian products, whereas, for high-social-status groups, this difference does not occur. Study 2 provides evidence that there is no difference in the attention bias between the two kinds of product under the condition of a non-status start-up. The results suggest that within high- and low-social-status groups, early cognitive processing is tuned toward different attributive products, which then influences consumer behavior. This study explored the relationship between social status and consumption behavior from the cognitive process perspective, which will help in further revealing the relationship between human needs and social status from an evolutionary perspective.

This study collected questionnaire data from 175 new immigrants (one-way permit holders) from Mainland China to investigate the relationship between need for belonging, loneliness, and life satisfaction while living in Hong Kong. We aimed to test two mediation models: (1) mediating role of loneliness in the relationship between unmet need for belonging and life satisfaction, and (2) mediating role of sense of belonging in the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction. Analyses revealed that loneliness was negatively correlated with life satisfaction and sense of belonging. Unmet need for belonging was positively correlated with loneliness. Sense of belonging had no significant correlation with life satisfaction. Regarding the first tested model, loneliness could significantly mediate the relationship between unmet need for belonging and life satisfaction. However, results for the second model did not support the hypothesis that sense of belonging can mediate the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction.

We examined how a psychological characteristic, namely advisor Big five personality moderate the influence of financial advice on investor futures trading. This research tested the hypotheses based on the unique data set collected from 408 investor-advisor dyads in Chinese futures market. Our results provide empirical evidence that the use of financial advice leads investors to trade more futures contracts when advisor personality tends to be openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion. On the other hand, financial advice negatively affects futures trading when the personality of advisors is likely to be neurotic. This research posits that retail investors trade differently if their advisors have a specific personality and therefore the investor trading patterns could be partly explained by exogenous supply-side factors. We suggest that the psychological characteristics of advisors can be relevant factors for policymakers in the financial services industry in order to improve their business.