Studies of electoral geography have traditionally examined the impact of spatial context on vote choice at the neighborhood or larger geographical level, overlooking potential effects of the immediate physical environment in the polling station. Observations of actual polling stations located in schools in Israel revealed a strong presence of nationalist and religious content in and around voting booths, in the form of naïve décor such as murals and children’s drawings (Study 1). In three experimental studies (Studies 2–4), we examine the effect on voters of such seemingly apolitical cues. The experimental studies were conducted in the days prior to Israeli general elections for the 21st and 22nd Knesset. Using a virtual-reality interface based on real-life content in actual polling stations (Study 2, student sample) and simulated environments (Studies 3 and 4, representative samples of Jewish Israeli voters), the three experiments document an effect of naïve nationalist décor on simulated voting, particularly for left-wing less-nationalist voters. In Study 5, based on actual voting in the 22nd Knesset, we capitalize on the random allocation of voters to polling stations in schools and find a correlation between the content displayed around polling places and voting patterns among distinctively left-wing populations. Investigating the influence of the encounter with the immediate environment at a resolution of meters and seconds exposes the potential impact of the (ultra-)micro temporo-spatial scale on decision-making and enriches theoretical discussions on the multiscalarity of contexts in electoral geography analyses.

Empathy and executive functions (EFs) are multimodal constructs that enable individuals to cope with their environment. Both abilities develop throughout childhood and are known to contribute to social behavior and academic performance in young adolescents. Notably, mentalizing and EF activate shared frontotemporal brain areas, which in previous studies of adults led researchers to suggest that at least some aspects of empathy depend on intact EF mechanisms. Despite the substantial development that empathy and EF undergo during adolescence, no study to date has systematically examined the associations between components of empathy and EF in this age group. Here, we explore these associations using data from an online battery of tasks, collected as part of a longitudinal twin study (N = 593; Mage 11.09 ± 0.2; 53.46% female, Israeli adolescents from Jewish decent). Using a confirmatory factor analysis, we quantified the associations between the main components of empathy (mentalizing and interpersonal concern) and of EF (working memory [WM], inhibition and shifting [IaS]). We found that WM was related to both mentalizing and interpersonal concern, whereas IaS were related to mentalizing but not to interpersonal concern. We also discuss the genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in each factor. Our findings show both similarities and differences from previous findings in adults, suggesting that the ongoing brain maturation processes and environmental age-dependent experiences in adolescence may affect the developing relation between cognitive and emotional development. These results have implications for better understanding and treating clinical populations demonstrating executive or emotional deficits, specifically during adolescence.

Various models of the Stroop task suggest that proactive task control adaptation accounts for the modulation of task conflict in different conditions of the Stroop task, for example when task conflict is very frequent or very infrequent. Other researchers have argued that a contingency learning of color-word associations is the main contributor to the modulations of the Stroop effect. In the present work, we constructed a design that controls for confounds that are suspected to rule out the role of control adaptation in the Stroop task. We focused on one type of conflict – task conflict and tested whether color-naming of neutral-words (where task conflict is present) differed from color-naming of neutral-symbols (where task conflict is not present) in four different conditions: mostly words-congruent, mostly words-incongruent, mostly words-neutral or mostly non-words shape. Importantly, the conditions used for the task conflict marker were identical in all 4 conditions. We found that the marker of task conflict (reaction time for neutral-words > reaction time for neutral-symbols) was significant in the mostly non-words shape condition, where proactive task control is relaxed, but not in the mostly words conditions, where proactive task control is activated, with no difference between these three words conditions. These findings suggest that control adaptation is the main contributor to the modulations of the Stroop effect. The relevance of the results to the current literature is discussed and the results are explained in light of the proactive control-task conflict model.

Life threatening trauma and the development of PTSD during childhood, may each associate with transcriptional perturbation of immune cell glucocorticoid reactivity, yet their separable longer term contributions are less clear. The current study compared resting mononuclear cell gene expression levels of the nuclear receptor, subfamily 3, member 1 (NR3C1) coding the glucocorticoid receptor, its trans-activator spindle and kinetochore-associated protein 2 (SKA2), and its co-chaperon FKBP prolyl isomerase 5 (FKBP5), between a cohort of young adults first seen at the Hadassah Emergency Department (ED) after surviving a suicide bombing terror attack during childhood, and followed longitudinally over the years, and matched healthy controls not exposed to life threatening trauma. While significant reductions in mononuclear cell gene expression levels were observed among young adults for all three transcripts following early trauma exposure, the development of subsequent PTSD beyond trauma exposure, accounted for a small but significant portion of the variance in each of the three transcripts. Long-term perturbation in the expression of immune cell glucocorticoid response transcripts persists among young adults who develop PTSD following life threatening trauma exposure in childhood, denoting chronic dysregulation of immune stress reactivity.

The first demonstrations that the levels of inflammatory cytokines are elevated in patients with depression (1) and that exposure to an inflammatory challenge produces a depressive-like episode in experimental animals (2) instigated a comprehensive research endeavor to unravel the mechanisms through which immune system activation can contribute to the development of depression (3). Considering that microglia play a crucial role in the brain’s response to inflammatory stimuli, extensive research has been dedicated to investigating the involvement of these cells in depression (4).

One important characteristic of intergroup relations and conflicts is the fact that toxic or violent intergroup relations are often associated with fixed and stable perceptions of various entities, including the ingroup (stable and positive), the outgroup (stable and negative), and the conflict (as an irresolvable force of its own). One of the major challenges for interventions aimed at moderating tensions and improving intergroup relations is helping people understand that their adversary or the conflict itself can change in meaningful ways. We address this challenge by drawing on the well-established framework of implicit theories, applied to beliefs about the malleability of individuals, groups, and conflicts/context to improve intergroup relations. The cornerstone of the current framework is our premise that altering people’s general beliefs about malleability provides a means of decreasing negative emotions, attitudes, and behaviors in contentious intergroup contexts. By implementing these ideas through experimental designs implemented in a range of intergroup contexts, some of the most destructive intergroup attitudes can be changed, often without even mentioning the specific out-group or conflict. In this chapter, we present lab and field experiments demonstrating short and long term effects of malleability interventions on conflict-related emotions (e.g., hatred, hope) as well as intergroup attitudes and behaviors.

Intergroup emotions theory has established that emotions play a key role in intergroup conflict. It therefore stands to reason that altering specific intergroup emotions might lead to positive changes in intergroup relations. In the past twenty years, the field of emotion regulation has dramatically advanced our understanding of the mechanisms of emotion regulation and of the interventions that can change emotions to effect positive outcomes in interpersonal and intrapersonal domains. This knowledge is now being applied in the field of intergroup conflict with promising results (e.g. increased support for humanitarian aid and compromise solutions, less support for aggressive policies) using various methodologies from lab experiments to real life events and longitudinal research. This research has been carried out in various contexts including intractable conflicts involving LGBT rights and immigrants in Israel–Palestine, USA, and Finland. This chapter will propose a broad typology of intergroup emotion regulation interventions, including motivation-focused and strategy-focused interventions. Lastly, we will discuss some of the limitations of intergroup emotion regulation interventions and possible ways to move forward.

This book introduces a comprehensive and integrative collection of psychological intergroup interventions. These evidence-based interventions are scientifically established and tested in several real-world contexts of intergroup animosities and tensions, from prejudice and inequality reduction to peace promotion. Intergroup hostility, violence, and discrimination have become more and more prevalent in recent decades. To address this challenge, recently, social scientists have shown an increasing shift from a descriptive to a more interventionist science, developing evidence-based interventions to improve intergroup relations. For the first time, this book includes research on intergroup interventions and their applications to the field, from a global collection of leading voices in the discipline. It also includes a conceptualization of intergroup interventions, a typology of different types of interventions, as well as a guideline for effective development of intergroup interventions. Each chapter focuses on one psychological intergroup intervention, further reviewing a sample of relevant platforms such as education, entertainment, and VR, upon which psychological intergroup interventions can be implemented. With each chapter featuring both intervention research and practical advice for practitioners, this is the ideal companion for researchers and professionals in social psychology, sociology, politics, peace studies and conflict resolution. It will also be of interest to practitioners looking for practical advice to create an impact in the real-world.