EXPRESS: Identifying with the Beautiful: Facial attractiveness effects on unisensory and multisensory self-other distinction

People tend to evaluate their own traits and abilities favourably and such favourable self-perceptions extend to attractiveness. However, the exact mechanism underlying this self-enhancement bias remains unclear and one possibility could be the identification with attractive others through blurring of self-other boundaries. Across two experiments, we used the enfacement illusion to investigate the effect of the attractiveness of others in the multisensory perception of the self. In a first experiment (N=35), participants were stroked on the cheek while looking at an attractive vs. non-attractive face being stroked on the cheek in synchrony or asynchrony. In the second experiment (N=35), two new faces were used and spatial incοngruency was introduced as a control condition. The results showed that increased ratings of attractiveness of an unfamiliar face lead to blurring of self-other boundaries, allowing the identification of our psychological self with another's physical self, and specifically their face, and this seems to be unrelated to perceived own attractiveness. The effect of facial attractiveness on face ownership showed dissociable mechanisms, with multisensory integration modulating the effect on similarity but not identification, an effect that may be purely based on vision. Overall, our findings suggest that others’ attractiveness may lead to positive distortions of the self, identifying with the more rather than less attractive others. This research provides a psychophysical starting point for studying the impact of others' attractiveness on how we perceive the self, which can be particularly important for individuals with malleable, embodied self-other boundaries and body image disturbances.

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of social integration and socioeconomic status on immigrant health in China. Taking the framework of social determinants of health (SDH) as the theoretical starting point, this paper uses the Hangzhou sample of the 2018 Survey of Foreigners in China (SFRC2018) to explore two core factors affecting the health inequality of international migrants in China: the level of social integration following settlement, and socioeconomic status before and after coming to China. The results show that having a formal educational experience in China helped improve both the self-rated health status and self-assessed change in health of international migrants; that the socioeconomic status of an emigrant’s home country affected self-rated health; and that the self-assessed change in health of immigrants from developing countries was significantly higher than those from developed countries. This study concludes that the health inequalities of immigrant populations in China must be understood in the context of China’s specific healthcare system and treatment structure.

Abstract This systematic review investigates the links between literacy difficulties, dyslexia and the self-perceptions of children and young people (CYP). It builds on and updates Burden’s (2008) review and explores how the additional factors of attributional style and the dyslexia label may contribute to CYP’s self-perceptions. Nineteen papers are included and quality assessed. Quantitative papers measured the self-reported self-perceptions of CYP with literacy difficulties and/or dyslexia (LitD/D) and compared these with the CYP without LitD/D. Qualitative papers explored the lived experiences of CYP with LitD/D, including their self-views and how these were affected by receiving a dyslexia diagnosis. Results suggest that CYP with LitD/D may be at greater risk of developing negative self-perceptions of themselves as learners, but not of their overall self-worth. Factors found to be relevant in supporting positive self-perceptions include adaptive attributional styles, good relationships with peers and parents, and positive attitudes towards dyslexia and neurodiversity. In some cases, CYP with LitD/D felt that others perceived them as unintelligent or idle; for these CYP, a diagnosis led to more positive self-perceptions, as it provided an alternative picture of themselves. There is a need for further research to explore the impact of attributional style and the potential for intervention, as well as CYPs’ experiences of diagnosis and the associated advantages or disadvantages.

This study investigated the effectiveness of an 8-month Team Building through Physical Challenges (TBPC; Glover & Midura, 1992) program on the self-perceptions and perceived social regard of middle school physical education students (N = 1802). Data were analyzed using multilevel analyses where midpoint and final evaluations were conducted separately. Results revealed that at the midpoint evaluation, students in the experimental and control conditions were not different on any of the subscales assessed. At the end of the program, students in the experimental condition, compared with those in the control condition, showed significantly higher scores on 6 of the 10 subscales assessed and the effect sizes were medium to very large. The findings support the effectiveness of the TBPC program in creating positive psychological outcomes for students in a field-based setting.

This study investigates the impact of a theatre-based vocal empowerment program on the vocal and language characteristics and the self-perceptions of young bilingual Egyptian women. The program used applied theatre, a dramatic practice that promotes civic action by utilizing improvisational techniques to engage participants in exploring solutions to self-identified community concerns. These techniques supported participants’ pursuit of vocal empowerment: the ability to comfortably express their intended content with a clear audible voice, accompanied by the belief that what they had to say was worthwhile. The program was implemented in Alexandria and Aswan, two Egyptian cities in different regions of the country, with distinct socio-economic profiles. Thirty-six young women from Aswan and nineteen from Alexandria participated. The program was facilitated in Arabic, for 90 minutes per day over twelve consecutive days in 2018. Participants in both groups spoke Arabic as a home language and studied English in school settings but differed in their educational experiences and English proficiency. The vocal and language characteristics of each participant were tested in Arabic and English pre- and post- program using a spontaneous speech task and a reading aloud task. Their self-perceptions were evaluated through a vocal self-perception survey. Results indicated that participants responded differently in each city. In Alexandria, participants showed significant improvement in language skills (e.g., mean length of utterance). In contrast, participants in Aswan showed a significant change in fundamental frequency. Overall, the self-surveys indicated that all participants experienced an increased sense of confidence, a stronger belief in self-authorship, and an increased desire to voice their opinions clearly in public; however, there were subtle differences between the groups. In analyzing these results, we conclude that to design effective vocal empowerment outreach programs internationally, it is necessary to consider participants’ cultural backgrounds, language diversity, and socio-economic status.

The self-portrait is a reflection of the personality in a visual, physical sense, as a concrete form, a summary of the external characteristics of the artist, but also in a psychological sense, when the self-portrait becomes a mediator of communication with the self, a medium of self-investigation. In this way, the self-portrait exists as a means of self-reflection, self-awareness and acceptance of the Self. It contains three primary values: subjective, objective and the archetype. Considering that the self-portrait is not exclusively a means of introspection reserved only for artistic practice, but also includes activities of the entire population, ranging from early childhood to old age, the projective and reflexive features of this motif began to be used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. These findings, as well the need for a new role for art teachers arising from the cognitive, emotional and moral needs of children and youth involved in the regular education system in the Republic of Croatia, gave rise to the project The Self-Portrait as a Means of Self-Investigation, Self-Projection and Identification, which was realised in the regular primary educational process, in fifth-grade art classes. The expressive and projective dimensions of children’s drawings, which can indicate the possibility of diagnostic and potentially therapeutic activity within the regular primary education system, were taken as a starting point. The project also sought to examine the impact of rational-cognitive principles of teaching on children’s creativity and expression.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify levels of self-compassion in adults who do and do not stutter and to determine whether self-compassion predicts the impact of stuttering on quality of life in adults who stutter. Method Participants included 140 adults who do and do not stutter matched for age and gender. All participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale. Adults who stutter also completed the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Data were analyzed for self-compassion differences between and within adults who do and do not stutter and to predict self-compassion on quality of life in adults who stutter. Results Adults who do and do not stutter exhibited no significant differences in total self-compassion, regardless of participant gender. A simple linear regression of the total self-compassion score and total Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering score showed a significant, negative linear relationship of self-compassion predicting the impact of stuttering on quality of life. Conclusions Data suggest that higher levels of self-kindness, mindfulness, and social connectedness (i.e., self-compassion) are related to reduced negative reactions to stuttering, an increased participation in daily communication situations, and an improved overall quality of life. Future research should replicate current findings and identify moderators of the self-compassion–quality of life relationship.

This study deals with the sociocognitive organization of the self-schema in alcoholic patients. It was aimed at understanding how the self-schema takes shape within the framework of social judgments known to be determinants of personality. Alcoholic subjects were interviewed twice, once during their first consultation for treatment and then again four months later after completion of treatment. Our approach was derived directly from the methodology used by Markus (1977) and Clemmey & Nicassio (1997) in their studies on the self-schema. The subjects had to perform three tasks that required manipulating personality traits with positive and negative connotations (a self-description task in which decision time was measured, an autobiographical task, and a recall task). The results of the first interview showed that 1. in their self-descriptions, alcoholics took more time than control subjects both to accept positive traits and to reject negative ones; 2. unlike control subjects, alcoholics considered more negative traits to be self-descriptive than positive traits, and 3. unlike controls, alcoholics recalled more negative traits than positive ones. By the second interview, the results for the alcoholic subjects on the autobiographical and recall tasks had changed: 1. they now described themselves more positively and less negatively than on the first meeting; 2. they recalled a marginally greater number of positive traits and a significantly smaller number of negative traits, and 3. the differences between the alcoholics and controls indicated an improvement in the alcoholics' self-perceptions.

Abstract. Two experiments examined the influence of stories on recipients’ self-perceptions. Extending prior theory and research, our focus was on assimilation effects (i.e., changes in self-perception in line with a protagonist’s traits) as well as on contrast effects (i.e., changes in self-perception in contrast to a protagonist’s traits). In Experiment 1 ( N = 113), implicit and explicit conscientiousness were assessed after participants read a story about either a diligent or a negligent student. Moderation analyses showed that highly transported participants and participants with lower counterarguing scores assimilate the depicted traits of a story protagonist, as indicated by explicit, self-reported conscientiousness ratings. Participants, who were more critical toward a story (i.e., higher counterarguing) and with a lower degree of transportation, showed contrast effects. In Experiment 2 ( N = 103), we manipulated transportation and counterarguing, but we could not identify an effect on participants’ self-ascribed level of conscientiousness. A mini meta-analysis across both experiments revealed significant positive overall associations between transportation and counterarguing on the one hand and story-consistent self-reported conscientiousness on the other hand.

By the time of his death in 1827, the image of Beethoven as we recognise him today was firmly fixed in the minds of his contemporaries, and the career of Liszt was beginning to flower into that of the virtuosic performer he would be recognised as by the end of the 1830s. By analysing the seminal artwork Liszt at the Piano of 1840 by Josef Danhauser, we can see how a seemingly unremarkable head-and-shoulders bust of Beethoven in fact holds the key to unlocking the layers of commentary on both Liszt and Beethoven beneath the surface of the image. Taking the analysis by Alessandra Comini as a starting point, this paper will look deeper into the subtle connections discernible between the protagonists of the picture. These reveal how the collective identities of the artist and his painted assembly contribute directly to Beethoven’s already iconic status within music history around 1840 and reflect the reception of Liszt at this time. Set against the background of Romanticism predominant in the social and cultural contexts of the mid 1800s, it becomes apparent that it is no longer enough to look at a picture of a composer or performer in isolation to understand its impact on the construction of an overall identity. Each image must be viewed in relation to those that preceded and came after it to gain the maximum benefit from what it can tell us.