Social Sciences

Abstract: Criminal behavior has been explained through multiple theoretical frameworks developed independently, including general personality models (FPI, Big Five, HEXACO), maladaptive configurations (Dark Triad/Tetrad, psychopathy), and criminogenic cognitions. However, integrated analysis of this literature suggests the existence of a common psychological architecture rather than distinct mechanisms. This narrative integrative review synthesizes empirical evidence regarding these frameworks in incarcerated populations, drawing predominantly on literature indexed in Web of Science and Scopus. The analysis identifies a convergent dispositional core—characterized by elevated aggression, emotional excitability, and psychological strain, alongside reduced conscientiousness, agreeableness, honesty-humility, and social integration—that largely influences behavior through mediating dynamic mechanisms such as self-efficacy, self-control, and criminogenic cognitions, expressed differentially through maladaptive personality configurations. The persistent heterogeneity of offender profiles and conceptual convergences across models support this same unitary structure. The findings propose a three-level integrative conceptual model that explicitly links these previously fragmented literatures, with implications for directing correctional interventions toward dynamic mechanisms rather than solely toward stable personality traits.

Abstract: Mental healthcare systems face increasing pressure from rising demand, fragmented services, limited resources, and models still organized around episodic clinical encounters. This article examines whether artificial intelligence (AI) can be conceptualized not pri-marily as a digital therapy, chatbot, or substitute for professionals, but as a supervised infrastructural layer supporting continuity of care within distributed mental healthcare communities. The study adopts a conceptual, systems-oriented design informed by structured evidence mapping of recent literature on AI in mental health. The evidence map was based on a structured PubMed search from January 2022 to March 2026, from which 33 analytically relevant studies were selected and classified according to clinical function, study type, clinical context, level of clinical integration, and systemic relevance. The analysis applies a systems lens focused on actors, boundaries, data and information flows, decision and escalation points, feedback loops, and governance conditions. The mapped literature is reorganized around five emerging clinical functions: longitudinal observation, conversational orientation and support, functional inference, clinical decision support, and assisted interventions. Read systemically, these functions may help address discontinuities between visits, support interpretation of patient trajectories, and connect everyday environments, professional judgment, and care responses. However, the field remains clinically immature, with limited integration into real workflows and persistent risks related to accountability, surveillance, bias, and overdependence on poorly vali-dated systems. The article argues that AI can contribute to trajectory-based mental healthcare only when embedded in human-led workflows, escalation protocols, com-munity-based care architectures, and institutional governance.

Abstract: Background: The aim of this study was to analyse whether narcissistic facets and indicators of the need for social validation predict behaviours related to ‘selfie’ addiction among students at the Autonomous University of Zacatecas (UAZ), Mexico, using a preliminary, adapted version of the NPI-40. Methods: An empirical, cross-sectional, non-experimental, correlational-predictive study was conducted with 255 students aged between 14 and 23, selected via convenience sampling. The adjusted NPI-40, the Psychometric Scale on Selfie Addiction, and six indicators of social validation and Instagram usage were employed. The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis with a polychoric matrix and hierarchical linear regression. Results: The results revealed a preliminary structure comprising three factors and two observed composites of the adjusted NPI-40: authority, agentic grandiosity, exploitation, vanity, and exhibitionism. Behaviours related to selfie addiction were primarily associated with exhibitionism, exploitation, frequency of posting on Instagram and sensitivity to negative comments. The final model explained 29.5% of the variance. Conclusions: It is concluded that the relationship between narcissism, social validation and selfie addiction is not homogeneous and should therefore be analysed by facets.

Abstract: The widespread penetration of generative artificial intelligence is reshaping adolescents’ social ecosystems and emotional experiences, while challenging the interpretive boundaries of traditional connectedness theories. Following the logical path of "connotation reconstruction—extension transformation—concept construction", this study constructs a systematic theoretical framework of artificial intelligence connectedness by integrating the ethics of care and neo-ecological theory. First, this research traces relevant theories across philosophy, sociology, and psychology. Rooted in the ethics of care, it reconstructs the core connotation of connectedness and proposes a continuum hypothesis of caring relationships to clarify AI’s unique position on this continuum. Second, from the neo-ecological perspective, this paper sorts out the extended structure of connectedness and demonstrates the ecological shifts brought by the rise of virtual microsystems and the popularization of generative AI. On this basis, the study formally defines artificial intelligence connectedness and establishes its three-dimensional structure: demand identification, two-way behavioral engagement, and responsive confirmation of demand satisfaction. By comparing this construct with adjacent concepts, this paper identifies its uniqueness and positions it as a specific subtype of connectedness for the digital era. This research unpacks ethical tensions embedded in human-AI interactions and defines artificial intelligence connectedness as a psychologically real yet ethically asymmetric perceived bond with inherent asymmetric risks. Finally, this paper builds a dual interpretive framework integrating traditional connectedness and artificial intelligence connectedness, verifies its incremental validity and unique predictive power, and puts forward falsifiable research propositions. This study expands the boundary of connectedness theory and provides an integrated analytical framework for unpacking the complicated mental health mechanisms of adolescents in the digital age.

Abstract: Sustainability leadership is increasingly recognised as essential for addressing complex socio-ecological challenges, yet empirically grounded and validated competency frameworks remain scarce, particularly those derived from interdisciplinary and intergenerational samples. Building on an extensive literature synthesis, this study developed an a priori framework comprising four dimensions: (1) Knowledge & Understanding, (2) Values, Motivation & Purpose, (3) Leadership Practices & Impact, and (4) Inner Development & Learning, operationalised into 20 core competency elements. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was conducted at Kiel University, combining quantitative importance ratings from 301 participants with qualitative content analysis of open-ended responses from 312 participants across all faculties and status groups. Quantitative findings confirmed all 20 elements, with systemic, value-oriented, and collaborative competencies rated particularly highly. Qualitative findings supported all deductive categories while adding 11 inductive categories, foregrounding relational, visionary, critical-systemic, and inner-directed capacities. Trust and empathy emerged as implicit foundations across several dimensions. The resulting framework is organised across four competency dimensions and three relational levels: I (the leader within), Us (in relation to others), and World (in relation to society and systems). It offers a theoretically grounded and empirically validated foundation for sustainability leadership development in higher education, organisations, and professional training.

Abstract: Background/Objectives: Proactive interference (PI) occurs when existing memories make it harder to retrieve newer information, and visual working memory in older adults may be impacted by increased vulnerability to PI. However, evidence supporting age-sensitive PI in the recent-probes task – a major technique for measuring PI – is mixed. Additionally, features of this procedure may have exaggerated or distorted the effect, so the current study reassessed the recent-probes task. Methods: Throughout trials in an online experiment, adults aged 18-29 and 64-80 memorized four images over a brief delay and then had to choose between a current target or a foil depicting an item from the previous trial (a recent negative probe) or a more distant trial (a non-recent negative probe). Participants were cued to respond either immediately or after a pause, and targets came from a small, extensively repeated set or a unique set. Results: PI was present, with slower and less accurate responding to RN than NRN foils, and errors notably increased when stimuli were unique and an immediate response was required. However, there was little evidence for age differences in PI. Conclusions: The present findings suggest that the ability to manage PI in visual working memory is not hindered in older age.

Abstract: （1）Rapid urbanization in China has led millions of rural children to be left behind by parents migrating for work, and previous research suggests that parent–child separation may increase the risk of mobile phone dependence (MPD) among left‑behind children; however, the mediating role of social anxiety (SA) and the buffering role of school connectedness (SC) in the links between father–child estrangement (FCE), mother–child estrangement (MCE), and MPD remain underexplored. （2）To address this, two waves of questionnaire data were collected one year apart from 283 left‑behind junior high school students in a rural area of a central Chinese province (mean age = 13.18, SD = 0.81; 127 boys, 156 girls), and longitudinal data were used to examine whether T1 FCE and T1 MCE predict T2 MPD, whether SA mediates these relationships, and whether SC moderates the direct or indirect pathways. （3）The results showed that both T1 FCE (β = 0.16, p = .007) and T1 MCE (β = 0.11, p = .049) positively predicted T2 MPD, and social anxiety fully mediated both pathways (indirect effects = 0.10 and 0.11, 95% CIs [0.02, 0.10] and [0.04, 0.19]); school connectedness significantly moderated only the MCE pathway (β = −0.09, p = .043): the SA–MPD link was weaker for students with higher SC, though it remained significant. （4）In conclusion, for left‑behind children experiencing mother–child estrangement, strengthening school connectedness may help buffer the risk of mobile phone dependence via social anxiety; however, for those with father–child estrangement, school support alone appears insufficient, and family‑level interventions may be necessary to reduce MPD risk.

Abstract: Research on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has traditionally examined perpetrators and victims separately, limiting understanding of the relational processes that sustain violence. The present review builds on the dyadic model of partner violence by synthesizing findings from 12 meta-analytic studies investigating risk markers for physical IPV. Peer-reviewed meta-analyses published between 2000 and 2024 were identified through searches using combinations of terms related to IPV, risk factors, and meta-analysis. Studies were included if they reported quantitative effect sizes for variables associated with physical IPV perpetration or victimization. Extracted results were organized into three hierarchical levels: (a) background and dispositional factors, (b) relationship context, and (c) situational context. Across reviews, the strongest and most consistent predictors of IPV clustered within the relationship level, particularly prior partner aggression, emotional abuse, and relationship dissatisfaction. Protective factors such as communication skills and empathy were inversely related to IPV risk. Few studies examined same-sex couples, men as victims, or culturally diverse samples, highlighting major gaps in current evidence. This review provides an updated synthesis and conceptual organization of IPV risk markers and emphasizes the importance of dyadic frameworks for guiding future theory, prevention, and policy.

Abstract: The default mode network (DMN)—positioned on the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus, and the angular gyrus, beside medial temporal and lateral temporal aids—was originally distinguished by its high resting activity and its deactivation during externally focused tasks. Although emotion has traditionally been associated with subcortical and limbic structures, growing evidence associates the DMN in the construction, appraisal, and regulation of affect. This narrative review synthesizes two complementary streams of evidence: functional and resting-state neuroimaging, which links DMN nodes to emotional processing correlationally; and lesion studies, which provide causal evidence that damage to DMN hubs—particularly the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)—disrupts emotional experience and value-guided decision-making. Our organizing argument is that the strongest conclusions arise from the convergence of these methods: the regions where focal lesions disrupt affect, the lesion-derived circuits associated with post-lesion depression, and the nodes implicated by neuroimaging overlap substantially, and lesion-, stimulation-, and imaging-derived depression maps converge on common circuitry. We review the network’s functional-anatomic architecture, the theoretical frameworks linking it to affect, and its clinical relevance to depression, anxiety, and trauma, treating lesion network mapping as a methodological bridge while presenting the active debate over its validity. We conclude that the DMN provides the self-relevant, conceptual scaffolding of emotion, operating within interacting large-scale networks.

Abstract: We compared four Large Language Models (LLMs; ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek) with humans on tests of cognitive development, assessing relational integration, linguistic awareness, general and domain-specific reasoning, and cognitive self-awareness to specify how LLMs compare with humans along cognitive development hierarchies. LLMs also discussed how Descartes’s Cogito applies to them and rated themselves on aspects of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Hence, we propose a novel interdisciplinary comparison between human and LLM capabilities integrating developmental, cognitive, and psychometric psychology. Overall, the structure of processes in humans and LLMs was highly similar. All LLMs attained perfect linguistic and metalinguistic performance. ChatGPT and Gemini outperformed university students in mathematics and causal reasoning. Grok performed slightly and DeepSeek considerably lower. All LLMs underperformed in visual–spatial tasks. Self-evaluation profiles broadly mirrored performance profiles: ChatGPT and Grok rated themselves high in reasoning and low in visualization, Gemini inflated visualization by reframing it as linguistic creativity, and DeepSeek consistently underrated itself. Each LLM restated Descartes’s Cogito differently, reflecting its own priorities, and denied having high AGI. Therefore, LLMs display human-like “subjective” task scaling implying algorithmic or functional metacognition, capturing their architectural gap between symbolic reasoning and visuospatial cognition, but they were modest in claiming top human intelligence. Implications for an integrated natural-artificial intelligence theory are discussed. Also, a developmental engineering model is sketched that might allow removing limitations of each LLM.

Abstract: Self-directed speech is a well-established aspect of human cognition, although its relationships with self-processes such as self-consciousness, self-rumination, mindfulness, self-concept clarity, and self-esteem remain poorly understood. The present study aimed to synthesize existing empirical findings to clarify how individual differences in self-directed speech relate to self-processes. Guided by PRISMA-informed systematic review procedures, this narrative review examined studies published between 2000 and 2025 that reported correlations between validated self-report measures of self-directed speech and selective self-processes. Relationships across 15 included studies showed low to moderate significant correlations suggesting that thinking about private self-aspects, reflecting and ruminating about the self, clarifying one’s self-concept, engaging in mindfulness, and mind wandering are associated with more or less frequent self-reported use of various forms of speech-for-self. Results also supported the notion that positive self-talk is linked to higher self-esteem and self-reflection whereas negative self-talk is connected to lower self-esteem and self-rumination. These findings are in line with the view that self-directed speech constitutes a central mechanism of self-construction and self-processing. Future research should focus on longitudinal and experimental designs, greater conceptual consistency, and broader cultural representation.

Abstract: Arithmetic estimation requires maintaining numerical information while applying rule based procedures for approximate calculation, yet it remains unclear whether such estimation strategy processing depends on the working memory state in which task relevant information is maintained. This study examined whether online and offline working memory states modulate arithmetic estimation strategy processing and whether such modulation varies with estimation strategy difficulty sequence and interference modality. Across three behavioral experiments, participants completed a serial probe task requiring estimation strategy consistency judgments for rounding down, rounding up, and mixed rounding strategies. Experiment 1 manipulated presentation duration and revealed distinct temporal profiles: online state performance was highest at the shortest duration and declined thereafter, whereas offline state performance improved and then stabilized. Experiment 2 showed that visual interference did not produce a uniform impairment, but selectively modulated online estimation strategy judgments in a difficulty sequence dependent manner. Experiment 3 showed that phonological interference produced broader disruption, impairing offline performance across sequence conditions and reducing online performance in the difficult–simple sequence. These findings suggest that arithmetic estimation strategy processing is shaped by dynamic working memory states, difficulty sequence related load, and modality specific interference.

Abstract: The Arousal Appraisal Model (AAM) reconceptualizes emotion as one regime within a structural-continuum model of arousal-regulated experience. Its novelty lies in treating arousal not as an episodic fight-or-flight response, but as a continuous energy-calibration process in which the nervous system samples external sensory input, interoceptive bodily condition, and memory-based meaning to determine how much mobilization is needed now. AAM specifies four graded regimes along a mobilization-capacity continuum: low-load contemplation, matched-load action, excess-load emotion, and overload collapse/freeze. When mobilization remains below the threshold for coordinated output, experience is characterized by quiet readiness and tentative inclination. When mobilization approximates available capacity and can be metabolized through throughput, it becomes coherent engagement or flow-like action. When mobilization exceeds what can be directly deployed into the available task or action pathway, surplus activation is expressed phenomenologically and behaviorally as emotion. This excess is not pathological and does not imply negative valence; it is the natural expression of mobilized energy shaped by appraisal, meaning, social context, and outcome. When exceedance persists under high constraint or blocked action, output may be restricted as collapse or freeze. The model yields testable predictions linking physiological mobilization, capacity, throughput, and appraised constraint to reports of possibility, propulsion, affective expression, or output restriction.

Abstract: Introduction: Sexual consent is a multidimensional construct involving both internal willingness and external communication, yet validated French-language instruments assessing these dimensions remain scarce. Objective: This study aimed to validate French versions of the Internal and External Consent Scale (IECS-FV) and examine their associations with sociodemographic and intimate relationship variables. Methods: A sample of 649 French-speaking emerging adults (18–25 years) completed translated versions of the ICS and ECS, alongside measures of relationship characteristics and sociodemographic factors. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), gender invariance testing, reliability analyses, ANOVAs, and correlational analyses were conducted. Results: The revised ICS-FV demonstrated excellent psychometric properties with a 19-item four-factor structure: Physical Response/Arousal, Agreement/Wantedness, Safety/Comfort, and Readiness. The ECS-FV showed satisfactory psychometric properties with a refined 15-item five-factor structure: Non-verbal behavior, Passive behavior, Communicative/Initiator behavior, Borderline Pressure, and Non-response Signals. All factors demonstrated good internal consistency (α ≥ .70). Gender invariance was supported for the ECS-FV but not for the ICS-FV. Positive internal and external consent dimensions were significantly associated with higher sexual satisfaction, romantic relationship satisfaction, sexual frequency, and relationship commitment, whereas non-response and passive behaviors were linked to less favorable outcomes. Conclusion: The IECS-FV are reliable and valid tools for assessing multidimensional sexual consent in French-speaking emerging adults. These instruments offer valuable resources for research, prevention, and clinical interventions targeting sexual health, relational functioning, and sexual violence prevention.

Abstract: People seek happiness by engaging in or avoiding activities that affect their well-being, which is also shaped by political, social, and economic contexts. This study explores how macro-social variables (democratic quality and social progress) relate to individual self-reported happiness. Using data from 167 countries, regression and mediation analyses were conducted, drawing on secondary sources such as The Economist's democracy index, Fehder et al. social progress index (2018), and Helliwell et al. happiness index (2023). The hypothesis on the democratic quality of a country predicting its happiness, -mediated by social progress-, has received partial support up to date. However, we fond significant statistical associations for government functioning and, to a lesser extent, for political participation, thereby identifying democratic dimensions that influence happiness and underscoring their importance for advancing research and guiding policy design.

Abstract: Professional networking platforms provide opportunities for career development but may also encourage career-related social comparison. This study examined whether the relationship be-tween LinkedIn use and career goal revision is explained by career-related social comparison and perceived career goal discrepancy. Data from 188 LinkedIn users were analyzed using cor-relation and serial mediation analysis. More intensive LinkedIn use was associated with more frequent career-related social comparison, which was related to greater perceived career goal discrepancy and, in turn, stronger career goal revision. The proposed serial mediation model was supported. Post-hoc analyses revealed differences between upward and downward career goal revision. Whereas the serial mediation pathway explained downward goal revision, upward goal revision was directly associated with LinkedIn use and was not explained by the proposed mediators. Career centrality was positively associated with career-related social comparison but did not influence the proposed relationships. The findings highlight LinkedIn as a context for career-related self-evaluation and goal regulation.

Abstract: Are cognitive technologies making us less intelligent, or more so? This paper develops a dynamic model of human capital formation in which individuals allocate cognitive effort between internal reasoning and external technological support. On this view, rather than exerting uniform effects, technologies alter the incentive structure governing cognitive investment. The model supposes that technological use can take two forms: (1) substitution, in which external systems replace internal cognition, potentially leading to intellectual atrophy through disuse, and (2) complementarity, in which they amplify abilities and knowledge. We propose that which form dominates depends on the curvature of returns to human capital, environmental opportunity structure, and individual differences in exploratory cognition, such as traits related to creativity. Under diminishing returns, optimal behaviour involves increasing reliance on external systems and reduced internal investment. Under convex returns, technological complementarity triggers path-dependent recursive dynamics that reinforce reasoning capacity and accelerate knowledge accumulation. As a result, the same technological systems may generate both cognitive offloading and cognitive amplification across individuals and environments. Thus, we predict that cognitive technologies increase dispersion in developmental outcomes rather than necessarily shifting average cognitive capacity. The long-run effects of intensive use of search engines, artificial intelligence, and the like may therefore depend crucially on individual differences and the institutional conditions that reward or discourage internal cognitive development.

Abstract: The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into higher education has renewed concern that technology-related strain may erode students’ higher-order thinking. Drawing on a social-cognitive framework, this study tested whether AI self-efficacy and technostress predict critical thinking in 340 Peruvian undergraduates, who completed three validated scales (Yoon’s Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory; the brief General Self-Efficacy Scale for AI, GSE-6AI; and the RED-Technostress scale). Data were modeled with PLS-SEM, with significance from 5,000 bootstrap resamples and an out-of-sample predictive assessment (PLSpredict, CVPAT). AI self-efficacy was a robust positive predictor of critical thinking (β = 0.42, p < .001), whereas technostress had no direct effect (β = −0.06, p = .50); AI self-efficacy was associated with higher technostress (β = 0.24, p < .001), but that path did not carry over to critical thinking (no mediation). A hypothesized moderation (AI self-efficacy mattering more at higher technostress) was not confirmed: it reached significance under the two-stage method but not under a stricter bootstrap, and is therefore treated as preliminary. The model explained a modest share of variance in critical thinking (R² = .17) and was invariant across public and private universities. These findings reposition technostress as, at most, a distal correlate and identify confident, literate engagement with AI, rather than the absence of strain, as the more promising lever for cultivating critical thinking.

Abstract: Understanding consciousness remains one of the most significant challenges in neuroscience, philosophy, and cognitive science. Despite substantial advances in neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and computational modeling, a comprehensive account of the neural basis of conscious experience has yet to emerge. This review examines several leading contemporary theories of consciousness, including the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT), Integrated Information Theory (IIT), Recurrent Processing Theory (RPT), Dendritic Integration Theory (DIT), Predictive Processing (PP), and the Memory Theory of Consciousness (MToC). The philosophical foundations, core theoretical claims, and empirical evidence supporting each framework are critically evaluated. Particular attention is given to how these theories address phenomenal consciousness—the subjective quality of experience—and access consciousness—the availability of information for cognitive control, report, and behavior. By comparing convergent and divergent predictions across theoretical perspectives, this review highlights key areas of agreement, ongoing debates, and unresolved questions in the field. The analysis suggests that consciousness is likely to involve multiple interacting neural mechanisms operating across different spatial and temporal scales, underscoring the need for continued interdisciplinary research to advance a more comprehensive understanding of conscious experience.

Abstract: Psychoactive substance use is a significant public health issue. Developing effective preventive strategies to reduce its incidence requires a deep understanding of the motivations and risks underlying its development and maintenance. This study examines the associations between substance use risks, self-esteem, and body image perceptions within a Spanish sample (n=174). Data were collected using standardized instruments (ASSIST v3.1, RSES, BSQ 8-D, BIS) and an ad hoc questionnaire regarding aesthetic-related beliefs. Findings revealed that while alcohol (90.2%), tobacco (47.1%), and cannabis (29.3%) were the most prevalent substances used in the last three months, associated health risks were predominantly low. Significant negative correlations were identified between self-esteem and the risk of alcohol (ρ=−.155) and sedative use (ρ=−.221), as well as cocaine prevalence (ρ=−.155). Gender differences emerged, with males exhibiting higher risks for cannabis and stimulants, while females reported greater body image concern. Approximately 25.3% of the sample reported using substances for aesthetic purposes, primarily dietary supplements among men. Beliefs regarding the impact of consumption on physical appearance were predominantly negative. These results suggest that high self-esteem and negative aesthetic perceptions of substances serve as protective factors. Effective prevention strategies should incorporate body image and self-esteem as pillars of psychological resistance.