Being Perceived as a Vital Force or a Burden: The Social Utility-Based Acceptance/Rejection (SUBAR) Model

This paper proposes a new theoretical model to explain the acceptance/rejection of agents (co-workers) and various social groups (people with mental disorders or disabilities, the elderly, the unemployed/poor, ethnic minorities) in a given social system: the social utility-based acceptance/rejection (SUBAR) Model. Based on a social utility approach, it is proposed that human social cognition evaluates and reacts to agents/groups in a social system on the basis of the perceived strengths and significant contributions they bring to the system (upward forces; e.g., skills, resources, willingness) and the perceived weaknesses that may harm the system (downward forces; e.g., use of social benefits, dependence). While the perception of upward forces for the system (i.e., vital forces) is accompanied by acceptance (positive attitudes and behaviors), the perception of downward forces (i.e., burdens on the system) promotes rejection (negative attitudes and behaviors). The combination of the two indicators predicts that low vital forces/high burden targets will be the most rejected and high vital forces/low burden targets will be the most accepted. The high burden/high vital forces and low vital forces/low burden targets should be evaluated at an intermediate level between the other two. This naive calculation of the forces exerted by agents/groups in a social system is moderated by various variables (scarcity of economic resources, values) and responds to a functional attempt to regulate individual and collective interests, themselves dependent on the efficiency of given systems. Finally, the relationship of the SUBAR model to other relevant theories will also be discussed

Social perceptions and the stigmatization towards fifteen mental illnesses in France: a preliminary study on the role of vital force and burden

IntroductionThis study examined social perceptions and rejection towards fifteen mental illnesses, as well as a preliminary test of the SUBAR model, that hypothesized perceptions of both vital forces and burden would be negatively and positively related to social rejection, respectively.MethodsUsing an online survey with participants from France (n = 952), social rejection was assessed using a feeling thermometer and a social distance scale, while social perceptions were measured using visual analog scales.ResultsA stigma map for these different disorders is drawn up, revealing the social perceptions and levels of stigmatization specific to certain mental illnesses. Controlling for relevant social perceptions (i.e., danger, warmth, competence), we found that perception of burden was positively and significantly associated to social distance and negative feeling for 73% and 67% of mental illnesses, respectively. The perception of vital force was negatively and significantly related to social distance and negative feeling for 87% and 20% of mental illnesses, respectively. The change in R2 between model 1 (i.e. perception of danger, warmth, competence) and model 2 (i.e. model 1 + perceptions of vital force and burden) significantly improved in 100% of cases for social distance and 67% of cases for negative feeling.ConclusionThese preliminary data provide support for the SUBAR model and call for further investigations to better understand the social rejection of people with mental illnesses

When the dissolution of perceived body boundaries elicits happiness: The effect of selflessness induced by a body scan meditation

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Self-centeredness and selflessness: happiness correlates and mediating psychological processes

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Beyond the body/self-consciousness matrix: Scale of the physical frame of reference and self-transcendence experience.

International audienceWe hypothesised that a shift from the body/self-consciousness matrix to a larger consciousness matrix, in which individuals perceive they belong to and are part of a larger life system, would lead to both a self-transcendence experience and positive transcendent emotions. In three studies, we experimentally exposed participants to macroscopic scenes of the earth from space and of various objects of the universe or to microscopic scenes about the inner workings of the human body. These conditions were compared to various control conditions depicting scenes of typical mesoscopic environments. All constructs were assessed using self-report measures. As predicted, a transient mental state marked by decreased selfsalience, increased feelings of oneness, and transcendent emotions, such as awe, was consistently found to be significantly greater in the experimental conditions, in which the physical frame of reference was changed, than in the control condition. Study 3 provides support for a sequential mediation model in which the changes in the scale of the physical frame of reference (i.e. vastness and smallness of the self) lead to a reduction in the body self (i.e. body loss) that mediates the effects of the experimental manipulation on selftranscendence. These results provide valuable directions for the study of self-transcendence

Stanley Milgram - (1933-1984)

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Being Perceived as a Vital Force or a Burden: The Social Utility-Based Acceptance/Rejection (SUBAR) Model

International audienceThis paper proposes a new theoretical model to explain the acceptance/rejection of agents (co-workers) and various social groups (people with mental disorders or disabilities, the elderly, the unemployed/poor, ethnic minorities) in a given social system: the social utility-based acceptance/rejection (SUBAR) Model. Based on a social utility approach, it is proposed that human social cognition evaluates and reacts to agents/groups in a social system on the basis of the perceived strengths and significant contributions they bring to the system ( upward forces ; e.g., skills, resources, willingness) and the perceived weaknesses that may harm the system ( downward forces ; e.g., use of social benefits, dependence). While the perception of upward forces for the system (i.e., vital forces ) is accompanied by acceptance (positive attitudes and behaviors), the perception of downward forces (i.e., burdens on the system ) promotes rejection (negative attitudes and behaviors). The combination of the two indicators predicts that low vital forces/high burden targets will be the most rejected and high vital forces/low burden targets will be the most accepted. The high burden/high vital forces and low vital forces/low burden targets should be evaluated at an intermediate level between the other two. This naive calculation of the forces exerted by agents/groups in a social system is moderated by various variables (scarcity of economic resources, values) and responds to a functional attempt to regulate individual and collective interests, themselves dependent on the efficiency of given systems. Finally, the relationship of the SUBAR model to other relevant theories will also be discussed

Self-location and mindfulness meditation1

Data of the three studies of the manuscript titled "Changes in Self-Location During the Practice of Mindfulness Meditation in Novices". </p

Mindfulness meditation and positive emotions

Data (2 studies) of the paper titled " The Effect of a Short Attentional Mindfulness Meditation Practice on Positive Mental Health in Novices: Self-Transcendence as a Mediating Process" </p

The Effect of the Detection Engagement and Savoring Positivity (DESP) Task on Eye-tracking of Attention

Data of two experiments testing the effect of the DESP task on Eye-tracking of Attention <br