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Brain Sciences
Special Issues
Decision Making and Social Cognition during COVID-19
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Decision Making and Social Cognition during COVID-19

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 October 2021) | Viewed by 13151

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Monica Mazza

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dept Biotechnol & Appl Clin Sci DISCAB, University of L’Aquila, 67100 L'Aquila AQ, Italy
Interests: socialization; social behavior; clinical psychiatry; psychopathology; clinical assessment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Social cognition is an adaptive human function that has been widely studied in recent years. This human ability involves the use of cognitive domains which permit individuals to store, process, and apply information about other people and social contexts (such as emotional processing, social stimuli encoding, the attribution of intentions, etc…). This is particularly relevant and essential in everyday life, as it allows us to comprehend other people’s behavior and to select or modify our own behavior in response.

This Special Issue of Brain Sciences, entitled “Decision Making and Social Cognition During COVID- 19”, aims to present a collection of studies which underline the impact of the pandemic on people’s social cognition processes and how the strategies and technologies used to fill the social distance have influenced our perception, understanding, and decision-making from a social perspective.

Authors are invited to submit cutting-edge original research, reviews, and perspectives addressing this topic. Identifying the main changes in social cognition processes could provide important indications about the social effects of the pandemic and act as a first step towards possible solutions to improve people’s well-being.

Prof. Monica Mazza
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Decision Making
  • Social Cognition
  • Social Distance
  • Technologies
  • Social Decisions

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2628 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Study Mode (Online vs. Hybrid) on Early Symptoms of Depression and Coping Strategies among University Students in Poland in Time of COVID-19 Pandemic—Preliminary Study
by Anna Drelich-Zbroja, Anna Jamroz-Wiśniewska, Maryla Kuczyńska, Monika Zbroja, Weronika Cyranka, Katarzyna Drelich, Olga Pustelniak, Izabela Dąbrowska and Katarzyna Markiewicz
Brain Sci. 2021, 11(12), 1578; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11121578 - 29 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2800
Abstract
Introduction: mental health has been one of the most important issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic; mental disorders can be exacerbated by isolation during lockdowns or online learning. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between non-clinical (early) symptoms of depressed [...] Read more.
Introduction: mental health has been one of the most important issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic; mental disorders can be exacerbated by isolation during lockdowns or online learning. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between non-clinical (early) symptoms of depressed moods, personality traits, and coping strategies, as well as whether the learning mode (online versus hybrid) differentiates the experiences of these early symptoms and coping strategies. Methods: 114 university students aged 19 to 34, whose education model was changed from stationary to hybrid or online due to COVID-19 restrictions, participated in the study. The participants completed the online questionnaire, which consisted of two sections: (1) demographic questions to characterize the subjects and 44 questions based on the literature review. (2) Mini-COPE Inventory. Results: the study showed that the fully online study mode has a negative impact on the mental health of students; hybrid students are more likely to use active and positive coping strategies, which effectively help to control negative thoughts and/or reduce negative mental states. Conclusions: the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant psychological effects that will extend to coming years; therefore, implementing systemic psychological care is of utmost importance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Making and Social Cognition during COVID-19)
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25 pages, 1771 KiB  
Article
“I Feel Therefore I Decide”: Effect of Negative Emotions on Temporal Discounting and Probability Discounting
by Cinzia Calluso, Maria Giovanna Devetag and Carmela Donato
Brain Sci. 2021, 11(11), 1407; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11111407 - 25 Oct 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3201
Abstract
Temporal and probability discounting are considered two fundamental constructs in economic science, as they are associated with phenomena with major societal impact and a variety of sub-optimal behaviors and clinical conditions. Although it is well known that positive and negative affective states bear [...] Read more.
Temporal and probability discounting are considered two fundamental constructs in economic science, as they are associated with phenomena with major societal impact and a variety of sub-optimal behaviors and clinical conditions. Although it is well known that positive and negative affective states bear important cognitive/behavioral consequences, the effect of emotional experiences on decision-making remains unclear due to the existence of many conflicting results. Inspired by the need to understand if and to what extent the current COVID-19 pandemic has determined changes in our decision-making processes by means of the unusual, prolonged experience of negative feelings, in this study we investigate the effect of anger, fear, sadness, physical and moral disgust on intertemporal and risky choices. Results show that all emotions significantly increase subjects’ preferences for immediate rewards over delayed ones, and for risky rewards over certain ones, in comparison to a “neutral emotion” condition, although the magnitude of the effect differs across emotions. In particular, we observed a more pronounced effect in the case of sadness and moral disgust. These findings contribute to the literature on emotions and decision-making by offering an alternative explanation to the traditional motivational appraisal theories. Specifically, we propose that the increased preference for immediate gratification and risky outcomes serves as a mechanism of self-reward aimed at down-regulating negative feelings and restore the individual’s “emotional balance”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Making and Social Cognition during COVID-19)
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14 pages, 753 KiB  
Article
Effects of Individual Discount Rate and Uncertainty Perception on Compliance with Containment Measures during the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Cinzia Calluso, Eleonora Grande, Alessia Erario, Annalisa Tosoni and Giorgia Committeri
Brain Sci. 2021, 11(10), 1256; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11101256 - 22 Sep 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2606
Abstract
Anti-contagion measures restricting individual freedom, such as social distancing and wearing a mask, are crucial to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Decision-making patterns and attitudes about uncertainty can highly influence the adherence to these restrictive measures. Here we investigated the relationship between risky behavior [...] Read more.
Anti-contagion measures restricting individual freedom, such as social distancing and wearing a mask, are crucial to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Decision-making patterns and attitudes about uncertainty can highly influence the adherence to these restrictive measures. Here we investigated the relationship between risky behavior and individual preferences for immediate vs. delayed reward, as indexed by temporal discounting (TD), as well as the association between these measures and confidence in the future, perceived risk and confidence in the containment measures. These measures were collected through an online survey administered on 353 participants at the end of the more restrictive phase of the first Italian lockdown. The results showed an unexpected inverse relationship between the individual pattern of choice preferences and risky behavior, with an overall greater adherence to containment measures in more discounter participants. These findings were interpreted in terms of a reframing process in which behaviors aimed at protecting oneself from contagion turn into immediate gains rather than losses. Interestingly, an excessive confidence in a better future was correlated with a higher tendency to assume risky behavior, thereby highlighting the downside of an overly and blindly optimistic view. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Making and Social Cognition during COVID-19)
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20 pages, 2955 KiB  
Article
“Stay at Home” in Italy during the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Longitudinal Study on Individual Well-Being among Different Age Groups
by Alessandro Quaglieri, Giulia Lausi, Angelo Fraschetti, Jessica Burrai, Benedetta Barchielli, Alessandra Pizzo, Pierluigi Cordellieri, Luigi De Gennaro, Maurizio Gorgoni, Fabio Ferlazzo, Stefano Sdoia, Pierpaolo Zivi, Anna Maria Giannini and Emanuela Mari
Brain Sci. 2021, 11(8), 993; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11080993 - 27 Jul 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3634
Abstract
The restrictions imposed by the Italian government because of the coronavirus outbreak have been shown to be demanding on the Italian population. Data were collected at four different time points from 29 March 2020 to 3 May 2020 and during the final follow-up [...] Read more.
The restrictions imposed by the Italian government because of the coronavirus outbreak have been shown to be demanding on the Italian population. Data were collected at four different time points from 29 March 2020 to 3 May 2020 and during the final follow-up survey on 12 October 2020. In the present study, we provided longitudinal evidence on the relationship between the lockdown and mental health dimensions, such as emotional state, perceived stress, and time perspective, for three age groups. The results allowed us to observe their psychological status from different perspectives at five different time points. Notably, a negative effect of the lockdown individual well-beings emerged as a trend, and differences in individual adaptation strategies to a prolonged stressful situation were observed at the follow-up. Indeed, pairwise comparisons between age groups showed that the young adult group (18–23 years old) seemed to be the most psychologically affected by the lockdown. The findings are discussed according to the most recent literature on the topic. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first longitudinal studies carried out in Italy concerning the general psychological effects of the coronavirus lockdown. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Making and Social Cognition during COVID-19)
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