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- 2026-05-25
Relationship quality among people living with HIV/AIDS: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to summarize the existing literature on the factors associated with relationship quality among people living with HIV (PLWH). Method A structured literature search was performed on APA PsycArticles, ProQuest and PubMed for quantitative, peer-reviewed studies published in English between 1994 and March 2025. Fifteen studies (N = 2579; 78% men, predominantly in serodiscordant couples) met the inclusion criteria and contributed 76 effect sizes, which were categorized as either protective or risk factors for relationship quality among PLWH. A three-level meta-analytic model was employed to address the nested data structure. Results The pooled effect sizes were comparable for protective factors (r = 0.26, 95% CI [0.08, 0.43]) and risk factors (r = 0.24, 95% CI [0.16, 0.31]), reflecting small-to-moderate effects. Significant heterogeneity was observed at the between-study level, whereas within-study variability was negligible. The only significant moderator was relationship length: the association between protective factors and relationship quality was stronger in longer-term PLWH relationships. Conclusion This review and meta-analysis suggest that, despite the unique context of HIV/AIDS, several correlates of relationship quality may reflect broader patterns observed across populations. The findings improve our understanding of factors associated with psychological well-being among PLWH, particularly given the importance of satisfying romantic relationships for quality of life in this population. - 2026-06-01
The Value of Effort in Actions and Thoughts Derives From How It Serves Our Goals
This paper addresses the question of how people determine the value of effortful activity. We apply a motivational framework, according to which value derives from the extent to which actions serve goals. Using this general instrumentality principle, we argue that effort is valued to the extent it contributes to goal progress and is appropriately calibrated. We then discuss how the “calibrated effort is good” principle is qualified by four factors: knowledge about what it takes to achieve a goal, the intrinsic value of effortful activity, the presence of additional goals, and the feasibility of goal attainment. Next, we apply these insights to explain the value of metacognitive effort (fluency), which accompanies the pursuit of epistemic (belief-related) goals. Finally, we distinguish between value and valence, arguing that difficulty can simultaneously (though not always) reduce immediate hedonic experience (valence) while still being valued due to its usefulness to long-term goals. This motivational account integrates research on effort, fluency, and valuation, offering a unified framework for understanding when and why effort is valued. - 2026-03-19
Restricting facial mimicry does not impair emotion recognition or influence the evaluation of human affect vocalizations and instrumental sounds
The embodied simulation approach predicts that restricting facial movements disrupts emotion recognition. Such effects have been reported for facial and whole-body emotional expressions, but findings remain inconsistent, and it is unclear whether they generalize to emotional sounds. Previous work has also shown that restricting mimicry induces a positivity bias in valence ratings, consistent with the facial feedback hypothesis. Here, we tested whether restricting facial mimicry impairs recognition of emotional sounds across four emotion categories in a forced-choice task and whether it affects valence and arousal ratings. Drawing on previous findings indicating that vocal emotional expressions elicit facial mimicry, whereas instrumental emotional sounds do not, we expected to find an effect only for the former. Instrumental sounds were recognized less accurately and more slowly than vocalizations, particularly for negative and neutral expressions. Crucially, both frequentist and Bayesian analyses provided no evidence that the pen-in-mouth manipulation impaired emotion recognition or influenced valence or arousal ratings. Taken together, these findings underscore the need for further studies to systematically determine the conditions under which restricting emotional mimicry influences emotion processing, as well as the nature of such effects. - 2026-01-10
How do Faces Influence Behavior? A Proposal for Distinguishing between Mechanisms that Involve Cognitive inferences, Emotional Feelings, and Unconscious Affective Reactions
Emotional stimuli – such as facial expressions, images, or text – can influence behavior, including important decisions. This influence is complex as these stimuli may engage multiple psychological and physiological processes. The processes encompass (i) perception, attention, and memory, (ii) motor patterns, (iii) central and peripheral circuitry, (iv) subjective feelings, and (v) inferences regarding the stimulus’ meaning. All these processes can shape subsequent behavior. For example, a smile may communicate permission and encouragement to explore. A smile may also lift one’s conscious mood, which, in turn, may serve as a basis for more favorable judgments. However, other mechanisms can operate without involving conscious feelings. In fact, in some studies on facial expressions, researchers observe shifts in attention, perception, and memory, changes in physiology (e.g., amygdala activation, sweating, respiration, heart rate) and behavior (e.g., approach, consumption, risky decisions), without participants reporting any feelings. In other studies, observed changes in behavior are causally unrelated to changes in feelings. In this article, we propose a framework distinguishing informational, feeling-based, and unconscious affective pathways of affective influence. We illustrate our framework with key studies, focusing on the variety of influences by facial expressions. - 2025
Dataset for publication Nourishing the Brain or the Mood? Dietary Omega-3s for Psychological, but Not Cognitive Health
Dataset contains data on the relationship between omega-3 fatty rich foods and omega-3 acid intake (ALA, EPA, DHA) and mental health (mood, perceived stress) and cognitive functioning (recognition and short-term memory) in healthy adults. The data controller was SWPS University, Warsaw, Poland. Questionnaire data were collected and exported via the Qualtrics platform; the computerized cognitive tasks were administered through Pavlovia. Summary of participant characteristics and descriptive statistics: respondents - 313; variables - 206; sex - 274 women, 39 men; age: 20–90 years (mean = 40.30). Study phases: 52 participants completed the second, in-person phase, which added a cognitive screening (MMSE) and an in-depth, in-person dietary interview; the remaining 261 participated in the online Phase 1 only. Two files are provided: the dataset (.xlsx) and a codebook (.xlsx) listing each variable's name, label, type, valid/missing counts, and range or value coding.
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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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