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- 2026-06-18
Virtual Reality as a Tool for Examining the Role of L1 and L2 in Enhancing Empathy and Reducing Ethnocentrism: Evidence From a Micro-Longitudinal Study
Research questions: Some researchers propose that using a second language (L2) enhances empathy by broadening perspectives, while studies on the foreign-language effect suggest L2 may reduce empathy by dampening emotions and increasing cognitive control. This study examines the influence of L1 and L2 on empathy and ethnocentrism, employing virtual reality (VR), a tool fostering understanding of diverse perspectives. Design: Polish university students, late bilinguals (N = 111), participated in a 2 (L1 vs. L2) × 3 (Pretest, Posttest 1, Posttest 2) mixed-design study, with all materials and subtitles in the assigned language. During a 9-minute VR experience, participants embodied Polish and Chinese students involved in a misunderstanding, heard their thoughts, and received cultural explanations. Data and analysis: L2 exposure significantly enhanced cognitive empathy and reduced ethnocentrism immediately after the VR experience, with cognitive empathy remaining elevated 2 weeks later. Conclusions: Results suggest that foreign language use in immersive VR environments may facilitate perspective-taking and cultural understanding through mechanisms consistent with the stunted intuitions model and cultural frame-switching. Originality and implications: As the first to test the foreign-language effect in VR, we situated our findings within existing literature and outlined future research directions. - 2026-06-22
Overestimating the Prevalence of Vegans, Vegetarians and Reducetarians Reflects Basic Psychological Biases in Estimating Proportions
In two studies, people estimated the percent of vegans, vegetarians, those following a reduced meat diet and omnivores for specific populations. In a study of Polish adults (n = 1038), participants provided estimates of the diets of Poles and of residents of the US. In a US student sample (n = 2538), participants provided estimates of the diets of their fellow students and of the US population. With a few exceptions, participants overestimated the sizes of dietary minorities (vegans, vegetarians, and reducetarians) and underestimated size of the dietary majority (omnivores). Moreover, these under- and overestimates did not vary systematically as a function of participant diet or vegetarian threat. Although women's estimates of the size of dietary minorities were larger than men's and women's estimates of the size of the omnivorous majority were smaller than men's, both men and women overestimated the percent of dietary minorities and underestimated the percent of omnivores. These misestimates reflect the operation of a general cognitive bias called ‘Uncertainty-Based Rescaling’, that has been found to explain why people consistently underestimate the sizes of majorities and overestimate the sizes of minorities without the need to infer the operation of biases due to similarity, threat and so forth. - 2026-06-19
Cognitive and temperamental determinants of susceptibility to orientation illusions on an example of the Poggendorff and Zöllner figures
This study examined cognitive and temperamental predictors of susceptibility to orientation illusions, using adjustment tasks based on the Poggendorff and Zöllner figures. Cognitive predictors included field dependence–independence and the efficiency of Posner’s attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control), while temperamental traits were assessed within Strelau’s Regulative Theory of Temperament. A total of 161 participants aged 20–33 years took part in the study. Susceptibility to the Poggendorff illusion was associated only with lower alerting network efficiency. In contrast, susceptibility to the Zöllner illusion was linked to both cognitive and temperamental factors: a field-dependent cognitive style combined with moderate or high Endurance, and an efficient orienting network combined with high Briskness. The findings support a multifactorial, illusion-specific account of susceptibility to orientation illusions, demonstrating that attentional, cognitive-style, and temperamental characteristics jointly contribute to individual differences in illusion strength. - 2026-06-15
Towards Improved Machine Learning Models for Adult-onset Psychiatric Disorders Classification using resting-state EEG: A Systematic Review
Recent advances in machine learning (ML) have led to growing interest in the classification of psychiatric disorders using biomarkers such as electroencephalography (EEG), offering promising prospects for improving diagnostic accuracy. However, the methodological variability in existing studies makes it challenging to identify the best strategies for enhancing this crucial tool. This systematic review summarizes studies using resting-state EEG for psychiatric disorders classification to identify key strategies for optimizing classification performance. Our analysis reveals a significant interaction between the EEG features used for classification and the chosen ML algorithms. Notably, neural networks outperform traditional ML methods, especially when applied to raw data or to complex data without feature selection. Relying solely on linear features can undermine model performance, whereas combining diverse feature types leads to higher accuracies. Additionally, preprocessing data with a notch filter can enhance model performance. We underline the importance of obtaining sufficient sample sizes and using subject-wise validation to mitigate potential overfitting. Moreover, we investigate the best-performing features, showing the importance of connectivity features, alpha and beta frequency bands, and frontal brain regions for depression detection; raw features and theta and alpha frequency bands for schizophrenia; and combined features and theta and alpha frequency bands for addiction. These insights synthesize the most effective approaches and provide valuable guidance for developing new tools in this field. - 2026-06-17
Dynamics of the risk of violence: diagnostic challenges and the role of protective factors in the institutional context of Poland
The article examines the role of protective factors in explaining temporal changes in violence risk among forensic psychiatric patients and prison inmates in Poland. A longitudinal study was conducted with 403 men (201 forensic patients and 202 inmates). Participants were assessed twice at a six-month-long interval using the HCR-20v3 and SAPROF. Forensic psychiatric patients showed a significant reduction in integrated risk for vioence, while prison inmates exhibited a slight increase in this field during the same period. In the patient group, the level of motivational protective factors from SAPROF was the sole notable predictor (albeit with low predictive power) explaining the variance in risk reduction. No protective factors significantly predicted risk changes in the inmate group. The findings indicate that risk dynamics may be context-dependent. The conducted analyses require further deepening and expansion. To facilitate this within the Polish psychiatric and penitentiary systems, systemic improvements are necessary, including the further implementation of Structured Professional Judgement (SPJ) risk assessment tools.
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- 2024-05-24
Psychologia społeczna. Wydanie drugie zaktualizowane
Nowa wersja podręcznika Psychologia społeczna ukazuje się w 14 lat po jego pierwszej edycji. Później było wiele wydań, bo podręcznik zyskał powszechne uznanie wykładowców i studentów. To wydanie jednak zasadniczo różni się od poprzednich. Współautorem został Tomasz Grzyb. W tomie przybyło wiele nowych fragmentów, niektóre kwestie zaktualizowano bądź opatrzono dodatkowymi komentarzami, odwołując się do świeżej literatury. Przede wszystkim zmienił się świat dookoła nas, pojawiły się nowe zjawiska, jak na przykład światowa pandemia COVID-19 i wraz z tym potrzeba odniesienia się do jej psychologicznych konsekwencji, a o wielu zjawiskach, którymi zajmuje się psychologia społeczna wiemy dziś więcej niż kilkanaście lat temu. Nie pozostało to bez wpływu na sam podręcznik – jego nowa, zmodyfikowana i przeredagowana treść lepiej oddaje charakter zmieniającej się, choć ciągle tak samo fascynującej dziedziny, jaką jest psychologia społeczna. Profesorowie Bogdan Wojciszke i Tomasz Grzyb, psychologowie o światowej renomie, napisali podręcznik do psychologii społecznej, jakiego jeszcze w Polsce nie było. Książka obejmuje wszystkie klasyczne zagadnienia składające się na tę dyscyplinę oraz zagadnienia relatywnie nowe, takie jak kwestie różnic płci, nowych mediów, społeczeństwa sieci, miłości i władzy. Napisana jasnym i barwnym językiem skupia się na prawidłowościach rządzących ludzką psychiką i postępowaniem. Pokazuje, w jak fascynujący sposób psychologia społeczna odpowiada na pytanie, kim jest człowiek i na czym polega jego społeczna natura. Wcześniejsze wydania tej książki stały się fundamentem dydaktyki akademickiej na kierunku psychologia. - 2025-08-11
What Puppygirls Know? The (in)Human Pedagogy of a Trans Feminine Style
‘Puppygirls’ is a name for a particular kinky trans feminine lesbian style, rooted in the long history of trans erotic productions, and currently thriving on social media platforms, such as Twitter (now X), Bluesky, or Discord. In this article, I provide an analysis of the style that is rooted in personal immersion in ‘puppygirl culture’. Using several examples of puppygirl media productions, I argue for the possibility of reading the puppygirl style as a critical practice: one that hints at ways of being trans that do rely on the ciscentric understanding of ‘the human’ as their point of reference. In doing so, I show how puppygirl style resonates with theoretical interventions in the field of trans studies offered by scholars such as Susan Stryker and Talia Mae Bettcher. - 2023
Wypalenie rodzicielskie: wprowadzenie do teorii i badań
The aim of the article is to present the concept of parental burnout, which has recently become a topic of interest for researchers. In the article, we review the theoretical concept of parental burnout, present the questionnaires to measure it as well as the research results indicating risk factors and consequences of parental burnout, and the first studies on the effectiveness of psychological interventions to reduce it. This article presents information in a concise, simple and understandable way, providing readers with a quick overview of the theory of parental burnout and the latest research on this phenomenon. - 2024-06
The Big Three Perfectionism Scale: Validation of the Polish Version
The Big Three Perfectionism Scale (BTPS) was created to integrate different aspects of perfectionism, including the newly conceptualized concept of narcissistic perfectionism. The goal of our two studies (N = 1341) was to examine the psychometric properties of the Polish adaptation of the BTPS, supporting the validity and portability of the measure. The studies were conducted among people who had a child, thus contributing to a better understanding of parental perfectionism, one of the key factors influencing parental well-being and a child’s functioning. Our analyses included investigating the structure of the scale, intercorrelations between subscales, reliability, and convergent validity by correlating BTPS scores with other measures of perfectionism and correlates of psychopathology (borderline symptoms) and parental difficulties (parental stress and parental burnout). Results supported the structure of the original BTPS. As predicted, confirmatory factor analysis indicated that items comprising the Polish adaptation of the questionnaire, like the original version, measure three related but specific aspects of perfectionism: rigid perfectionism, self-critical perfectionism, and narcissistic perfectionism. The three dimensions were also found to be specifically related to the difficulties experienced by parents. Further, the Polish version of the BTPS was found to have good internal reliability and validity. Our results from two independent Polish samples suggest that the Polish version of the BTPS is a psychometrically robust measure of perfectionism for assessing the three perfectionism factors.
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