This article investigates cognitive load in fully labeled and end-labeled Likert-type scales. We compared cognitive load between two conditions using different methods such as pupillometry, completion times, and subjective evaluation of mental effort. We conducted a laboratory experiment (N = 170) using eye-tracking technology to measure pupil dilation while respondents completed a web survey. The mean pupil diameter was larger in the fully labeled than in the end-labeled condition. Because the fully labeled scales provide more information and require respondents to read labels for all scale values, they increase neurophysiological load compared to the end-labeled scales. Though the effect was small, it was consistent. We found no difference in completion time and subjective rating of mental effort between the conditions. Despite higher cognitive load in the fully labeled condition, data quality benefits from the provision of clear verbal labels in the scale.

Alongside collectivism–individualism, autonomy–embeddedness, and monumentalism–flexibility, emancipative values (EV) constitute one of the most powerful cultural markers of societal differences in economic  development, demographic change, and levels of liberal democracy. However, the evolutionary emancipation theory's validity relies on the assumption that values crystallize in early adolescence and persist across the lifespan—a premise lacking robust empirical scrutiny. Given EV's significance, this study examines their dynamics in Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic, using three waves (June 2020–December 2021) of the international longitudinal survey ‘Values in Crisis’. Aggregate-level analysis supports the ‘baseline stability theorem’, revealing no substantial decline in EV. However, divergent trends emerge for EV components: choice values undergo a marginal increase, while equality values show a slight decline. At the individual level, pandemic-related experiences, that is, COVID-19 infection, job loss, or health anxiety, exhibit no significant effect on choice values; however, equality values demonstrate a weak positive association with the increase in economic concerns. Latent growth mixture modelling further indicates that considerable EV shifts occurred in only ~2% of the panel sample. These findings provide novel evidence that core values remain stable even amid unprecedented exogenous shocks, reinforcing the ‘baseline stability theorem’ despite severe threats to health and economic security.

In this paper, we use data from a longitudinal online study to examine how characteristics of prosocial behaviors influence the level of positive affect they produce. Although much work has found that prosocial behaviors benefit those who enact them, the question remains if and how these effects vary based on characteristics of those acts. Using models that adjust for co-occurrence among act characteristics, we find that positive affect produced by prosocial acts is greater for those acts that: involve giving money or items, are seen as unusually kind, elicit positive feedback, and are varied over time. However, we find that the actor’s relationship to the beneficiary, reaping benefits from prosocial acts, and the number of successive acts made no difference in terms of resultant positive affect. We conclude with a discussion of potential mechanisms explaining these differing effects and explore practical implications for kindness interventions.

This paper inspects the changes in basic human values (“Schwartz values”) during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as analyzes the associations between values and negative pandemic experiences. Using the 4 waves of the panel online survey ‘Values in Crisis’ conducted in 2020–2022 in Russia, the study highlights the short-term nature of value changes and general stability of orientations. The findings demonstrate a small decrease in conformity, stimulation and self-enhancement at the beginning of the pandemic, along with a decline in self-transcendence and self-enhancement and an increase in hedonism by the end of the period. Additionally, the results illustrate fluctuations in conformity values throughout the pandemic. Multilevel regression models indicate positive associations of health-related concerns with conservation, and the opposite relationship – with openness to change. Negative economic experiences, both first-hand and prospective, demonstrate a reverse association with tradition. Further analysis suggests that the impact of health-related experiences decreases over time, whereas economic-related issues become more important. The study contributes to understanding value dynamics during crises, highlighting the differential and evolving impact of pandemic-related experiences on human values.

An important question in cogntive and evolutionary psychology is how the human mind anticipates the future and copes with stress and risk of disease. The parasite-stress model suggests that many patterns of human behavior and thought are adaptations to varying levels of exposure to parasites and pathogens. A growing body of health psychology research shows a link between positive future thinking and resiliency to various forms of disease. In this study, we investigate the link between historical pathogen prevalence in countries and individuals' perception of the future of humanity. We surveyed 18,981 participants across 68 nations, examining their beliefs about how well humanity will be doing 1000 years from now compared to the present. We found that individuals residing in regions with higher historical disease risk tend to have more positive views about the future of humanity than individuals residing in areas with lower historical disease risk. The difference could not be attributed to several other stress-inducing factors, such as climate stress, population density or objective or subjective socioeconomic indicators. This research contributes to a growing body of evidence demonstrating how disease risk shapes human cognition and encourages future exploration of the evolution of temporal forecasting and consciousness.

When and how does an environmental protest cycle affect election outcomes under electoral authoritarianism? Drawing on the case of the Bashkortostan republic, a Russian ethnic region, I leverage the spatial proximity to the protest site to identify its effects on parliamentary elections. The environmental protest cycle peaked in Bashkortostan around the regional government’s decisions to extract minerals from shikhans – mountains composed of limestone. Employing a difference-in-differences (DiD) design, I show that precincts exposed to the environmental protest cycle experienced a significant drop in United Russia vote share, while voting for systemic opposition increased in the affected precincts. To explain the dynamics, I propose treating non-political protests, such as environmental ones, as an information revelation mechanism. The mechanism identified through a causal mediation analysis indicates that the environmental protest cycle conveys information on regional malperformance to voters. Their updated preferences, in turn, heavily undermine the electoral mobilizing capacity of local elites.