Social hierarchy is a typical feature of social organization. The ability to quickly recognize social hierarchy information is crucial for adapting to social contexts. Here, we adopted fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) with electroencephalography (EEG) to assess the neural responses to social hierarchy during social competition and cooperation, respectively. Participants first learned hierarchical faces from a competitive game versus a cooperative game. We then sequentially presented the learned hierarchical faces with a specific frequency in a set of faces. Results showed that participants rated the inferior player as lower in the social hierarchy in the cooperative context compared to the competitive context, indicating that social context affects the judgment of others\' rank. Moreover, higher neural responses to high and low-hierarchy faces versus medium-hierarchy faces were observed, suggesting rapid discrimination of social hierarchy from faces. Interestingly, rank-specific neural responses were more pronounced in the competitive context than in the cooperative context, indicating increased sensitivity to social hierarchy during social competition versus social cooperation. This study provides behavioral and neural evidence for rapid, automatic processing of social hierarchy information and for an increased sensitivity to such information in competitive versus cooperative social contexts.

Although prior research has implied that emotional contagion occurs automatically and unconsciously, convincing evidence suggests that it is significantly influenced by individuals\' perceptions of their relationships with others or with collectives within specific social contexts. This implies a role for self-representation in the process. The present study aimed to offer a novel explanation of the interplay between social contexts and emotional contagion, focusing on the contextualized nature of self-representation and exploring the social factors that shape emotional contagion. It further posits a causal loop among social contexts, self-representation, and emotional contagion. Drawing from the lens of self-representation, this study concludes with a discussion on potential research directions in this field, commencing with an exploration of the antecedents and consequences of emotional contagion and self-representation.

Emotional contagion refers to the transmission and interaction of emotions among people. Researchers have mainly focused on its process and mechanism, often simplifying its social background due to its complexity. Therefore, in this study, we attempt to explore whether the presence and clarity of social context affect emotional contagion and the related neural mechanisms. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to report their subjective experiences after being exposed to the facial expressions of emotional expressers, with or without the corresponding social context being presented. The results revealed that positive or negative expressions from the expressers elicited corresponding emotional experiences in the receivers, regardless of the presence of social context. However, when the social context was absent, the degree of emotional contagion was greater. In Experiment 2, we further investigated the effect of the clarity of social contexts on emotional contagion and its neural mechanisms. The results showed an effect consistent with those in Experiment 1 and highlighted the special role of N1, N2, P3, and LPP components in this process. According to the emotions as social information theory, individuals may rely more on social appraisal when they lack sufficient contextual information. By referencing the expressions of others and maintaining emotional convergence with them, individuals can adapt more appropriately to their current environment.

Video lectures are becoming an important and accessible way for adults to learn a new second language (L2). Unlike face-to-face classroom teaching, teachers are more challenged by the asynchronous mode of video teaching. Finding more effective teaching methods is a great concern for teachers. The present study examined adults\' second language (L2) vocabulary learning in a video-based social learning environment. Participants included 116 Chinese undergraduates. They learned German words through one of three pedagogical video lecture conditions: social-context (SC) condition, picture-phonics (PP) condition, and non-picture phonics (NPP) condition. We measured learners\' learning performance, cognitive load, intrinsic motivation, and learning satisfaction. The results indicated that adult learners in the SC condition performed significantly better in word meaning retention, had significantly higher intrinsic motivation, and perceived significantly lower cognitive load as compared to the PP and NPP conditions. The implications are that teachers could use social learning pedagogy to create a better video-based learning environment for L2 adult learners for better learning performance.

Although previous studies have shown that task performance is affected by others\' presence and (the consequences of) others\' actions, it is unclear how task performance varies in different social situations and the role that sex plays in it. In the present study, we investigated sex differences in the evaluation processing of another person\'s outcomes in both cooperative and competitive contexts. We recorded the event-related potentials (ERPs) of 72 normal adults who played a gambling task with a partner or against an opponent. The behavioral results indicate that males take longer to make decisions in competitive contexts, while females take longer to make decisions in cooperative contexts. According to the ERP findings, feedback-related negativity (FRN) was influenced by sex, with larger FRN following another person\'s loss among males in both cooperative and competitive contexts. The P300 was influenced by sex and context, such that males had greater P300 when another person made a gain under the cooperative context, while females had greater P300 when another person lost under the cooperative context. Our findings suggest that the processing of another person\'s outcome can be modulated by the sex during the early stage and by both the context and sex during the late stage.

This study uses data from the China Family Panel Studies to analyze the possible impact of non-farming income on household energy choices. We use ordinary least squares and instrumental variable estimation methods to investigate the causal effect of non-farming income on household energy choices. We find that an increase in non-farming income assisted farmers in reducing their use of solid fuels in favor of clean energy. Our heterogeneity analysis, based on the average rural household income and geographical location of the village, shows that the energy upgrade effect of non-farming income is more obvious in high-income areas and suburbs closer to the county seat center. Further, we find that non-farming income has an impact on rural household energy choice mainly through the optimization of household energy-saving appliances and the enhancement of environmental awareness.

Previous research has shown the relationship between loneliness and affect, as well as the relationship between trait loneliness and state loneliness. However, none has investigated how social context affects the association between loneliness and affect. The current study aims to examine the association between trait loneliness, state loneliness and momentary affects in different social contexts.
Participants aged 15-24 were randomly recruited from a Hong Kong epidemiological study to participate in an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) study. The group was divided in two based on the mean trait loneliness score (UCLA Loneliness Scale) at baseline. State loneliness, momentary positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) and social context were assessed using ESM. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the association between momentary affect, state loneliness and trait loneliness in various social contexts.
HL (high lonely) and LL (low lonely) groups consisted of 79 participants (44.6%) and 98 participants (55.4%) respectively. HL group had lower PA and higher NA, as well as a higher state loneliness than LL group. HL group had a lower state loneliness when being with intimate company compared to alone. LL group only had a higher PA when being with intimate company compared to non-intimate company and alone respectively.
Adolescents with high level of trait loneliness experienced higher PA, momentary loneliness and lower NA compared to those with low level of trait loneliness. The quality of social company is crucial in allowing one to experience different degrees of PA and momentary loneliness.

Patient-centered services are high-value, high-quality medical services that can improve patient satisfaction and safety. However, little is known about their driving mechanisms. This study examined whether external (social context) and internal (self-efficacy) motivation affects medical professionals\' patient-centered service behavior, and explored the moderating role of medical professionals\' achievement motivation. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with medical professionals at public hospitals in Hangzhou. Descriptive statistics, hierarchical linear regression analysis, and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. The final analysis included 1,612 medical professionals. Results indicated that perceived social context and self-efficacy had direct and positive effects (β = 0.578, β = 0.269) on medical professionals\' patient-centered service behavior. Social context also indirectly influenced medical professionals\' patient-centered service behavior mediated by self-efficacy (β = 0.149). Additionally, achievement motivation played a moderating role (β = -0.037) between the social context and self-efficacy. From the results it can be deduced that an excellent social environment and strong self-efficacy can promote the patient-centered service motivation of medical professionals. This promoting effect is even more significant under the moderating effect of high achievement motivation. Governments, health administrative departments, and hospital management should use internal and external motivation factors to promote medical professionals\' patient-centered service behavior. Along with formulating relevant laws and regulations, efforts should also be made to guide medical professionals to improve their self-efficacy and achievement motivation, thereby encouraging patient-centered medical service behavior.

Women\'s suicide is a serious public health issue in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This study explored whether institutional discrimination against women, as manifested in formal and informal laws, is relevant to country\'s income-level variability in women\'s suicide mortality. It also examined which discriminatory laws are associated with LMIC women\'s suicides.
Scores on laws discriminating against women, across 176 countries, were obtained from the Gender, Institutions and Development Database. Male-to-female (M/F) 2017 suicide ratios were the index of women\'s propensity for suicide. The mediating role of laws discriminating against women on the association between country\'s income level and M/F suicide ratio was analysed by bootstrapping method. Regression analyses examined which discriminatory laws were associated with LMIC women\'s suicide rates.
LMIC had significantly smaller M/F suicide ratios than high-income countries. Institutional discrimination mediated the association between country\'s income-level and M/F suicide ratio (total effect: β = -0.13, 95% CI [ -0.26, -0.01]; direct effect: β = -0.06, 95% CI [ -0.20, 0.08]; indirect effect: β = -0.07, 95% CI [ -0.15, -0.02]). In LMIC, higher levels of discrimination against women in laws about access to productive and financial resources (β = -0.69, p < 0.001), civil liberties (β = -0.60, p < 0.001), and in family law (β = -0.57, p < 0.001) were associated with smaller M/F suicide ratios after controlling for male suicide rates and sex ratios at birth.
The relatively high suicide rates recorded among women in LMIC might be related to the higher level of institutional discrimination women experience in these countries. In LMIC, where, by law, women had restricted access to productive and financial assets and to justice, and/or unequal rights with regard to citizenship, household-responsibilities, divorce, and inheritance, M/F suicide ratios were lower-that is, women\'s suicide rates were higher. Suicide theory, research, and prevention targeting women should incorporate social-context and social-justice perspectives.

There is increasing evidence that many anurans use multimodal cues to detect, discriminate and/or locate conspecifics and thus modify their behaviors. To date, however, most studies have focused on the roles of multimodal cues in female choice or male-male interactions. In the present study, we conducted an experiment to investigate whether male serrate-legged small treefrogs (Kurixalus odontotarsus) used visual or chemical cues to detect females and thus altered their competition strategies in different calling contexts. Three acoustic stimuli (advertisement calls, aggressive calls and compound calls) were broadcast in a randomized order after a spontaneous period to focal males in one of four treatment groups: combined visual and chemical cues of a female, only chemical cues, only visual cues and a control (with no females). We recorded the vocal responses of the focal males during each 3 min period. Our results demonstrate that males reduce the total number of calls in response to the presence of females, regardless of how they perceived the females. In response to advertisement calls and compound calls, males that perceived females through chemical cues produced relatively fewer advertisement calls but more aggressive calls. In addition, they produced relatively more aggressive calls during the playback of aggressive calls. Taken together, our study suggests that male Kodontotarsus adjust their competition strategies according to the visual or chemical cues of potential mates and highlights the important role of multisensory cues in male frogs\' perception of females.