This study examined changes in dream emotion with aging and the characteristics of each age group. A survey was conducted among 206 Japanese youths, 253 adults, and 100 elderly. Subjective emotional ratings of dreams were compared by age, and dream descriptions were analyzed from a structural perspective. The results showed that overall dream emotion and negative emotion decreased for the elderly and love was found to be the most frequent emotion. For youths, negative emotions were strongly experienced; many dreams were about the dream ego being exposed to threats from the object. For adults, negative emotions were strongly experienced, suggesting two possibilities: the establishment of the ego and a review of their own lifestyles. The elderly had a mature ego and developed emotion regulation skills, suggesting that they were less likely to experience negative emotions.

This study aims to clarify how animal images contribute to psychological change in children. A meta-perspective examination of the psychotherapeutic process was conducted over three groups with different psychological symptoms. The results showed that the contribution of animal images towards relieving symptoms was different for each group. For the Selective mutism group, who experience psychological conflicts, animals with polysemous images played a symbolic role in breaking through the psychological stalemate. For the Tic disorder and Trichotillomania group, who experience problems regarding the body-mind relationship and aggression, animals with powerful and natural characteristics helped children express their physical power. The Autism spectrum disorder group preferred images of insects, fish, and reptiles, rather than mammals, which are closer to humans, indicating that they preferred images of animals and wildness in a more primitive form.

This research aimed to investigate college students’ academic engagement during the outbreak of COVID-19 in some areas in China, thus verifying how benefit finding (BF) influences academic engagement with anxiety as moderating effect. We conducted a questionnaire composed of the recompiled Benefit Finding Scale, Student Version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale. In the outbreak stage of COVID-19, all aspects of students’ academic engagement were lower than before the outbreak stage of COVID-19 (p < .001). BF had a positive influence on academic engagement (β = .253, p < .001), and anxiety weakened the relationship between BF and academic engagement (β = –.138, p = .001). BF by college students due to the long-term epidemic increased their academic engagement, and students with high BF had positive motivation and performance in academic achievements. However, the different degrees of anxiety brought by the outbreak decreased the positive influence of BF on academic engagement.

Is cheating intuitive when it serves self-interest? The literature on intuitive honesty versus dishonesty remains controversial. In two studies, we used both between-subjects (Study 1, N = 90) and within-subjects (Study 2, N = 93) cognitive load manipulations to induce intuition and tested the intuitive dishonesty hypothesis with behavioral cheating paradigms. Results showed that cognitive load increased lying across multiple tasks (Studies 1 and 2). Moreover, the intuitive dishonesty effect occurred only for individuals low in Honesty-Humility (Study 2). The findings are discussed with regard to current debates about intuitive dishonesty.

The mental model theory (MMT) holds a deterministic view on causation regarding two aspects. From one aspect, MMT claims that the causal assertion “A causes B” implies that there are three temporally ordered possibilities: A and B, not A and B, not A and not B. On another aspect, MMT explicitly holds the view that “A causes B” indicates a necessary connection between A and B. Furthermore, MMT is strongly partial to the model of possibilities as the core meaning of causation but disregards other causal factors such as mechanisms, powers, or properties. In this paper, we showed that if MMT were to take its own principles seriously, then (a) the term “necessary connection” would be a vacuous concept, (b) it would confound causal necessity with logical necessity, or (c) the “mental model” would have little significance to causal determinism.

Society relies on third parties to adjudicate remedies for norm violations, but group membership and social pressure may affect how these third parties judge norm violators. Using a modified third-party punishment paradigm built off a dictator game (DG), we explore how being part of a group affects the way third parties punish malefactors (i.e., engage in altruistic intervention behavior), and further explore whether gain and loss contexts can regulate the influence of group information on the third-party punishment. In three studies, we investigate how each of the following might affect an adjudicating third party’s resolution of norm violations: (1) adjudicating alone or in the presence of an observing group, (2) adjudicating in the presence of groups of various sizes, and (3) the social pressure to conform with the judgments of other “peer” judges. Our results showed that third parties punished more forcibly in the presence of a group, and this result occurred not only in the gain context but also in the loss context (Study 1, N = 50). Third parties punished dictators more harshly when observed by smaller than larger groups, this time predominantly in the loss context (Study 2, N = 50). Finally, third parties generally acted by the judicial decisions of fellow cohort members, conforming most with peer judgments in the loss context (Study 3, N = 50). This research provides specific, descriptive evidence of how group information impacts third-party altruistic interventions to maintain social norms, broadening the horizon for understanding third-party punishment and involvement in social norm regulation.