Caring is a positive social act, but can it result in negative attitudes towards those cared for, and towards others from their wider social group? Based on intergroup contact theory, we tested whether care workers' (CWs) positive and negative contact with old-age care home residents (CHRs) predicts prejudiced attitudes towards that group, and whether this generalises to other older people. Fif...

BACKGROUND Direct social contact interventions are known to reduce mental health stigma. Filmed social contact may be equally effective and have practical and cost advantages. AIMS To compare the effectiveness of a DVD, a live intervention and a lecture control, in reducing stigma, testing the hypotheses that: (a) DVD and live interventions will be equally effective; and (b) the interventions...

PURPOSE The objective of this article was to explore the meaning of early contact in return-to-work, and how social relational actions and conditions can facilitate or impede early contact among actors in the workplace. METHOD An exploratory qualitative method was used, consisting of individual open-ended interviews with 33 workplace actors at seven worksites across three public employers in ...

the current study aims at the comparative analysis of the religious copping, optimism, and social physique anxiety between the disabled and the normal people.  as for the methodology of this comparative analysis, 60 gorgani people, 30 disabled and 30 normal people, were chosen through systematic random sampling in 1395 taken from the names of those disabled who were registered in the welfare or...

Mammalian social relationships, such as mother-offspring attachments and pair bonds, can directly affect reproductive output. However, conspecifics approach one another in a comparatively broad range of contexts, so conceivably there are motivations for social congregation other than those underlying reproduction, parental care or territoriality. Here, we show that reward mediated by social con...

Housing preweaned dairy calves in pairs rather than individually has been found to positively affect behavioral responses in novel social and environmental situations, but concerns have been raised that close contact among very young animals may impair their health. In previous studies, the level of social contact permitted in individual housing has been auditory, visual, or physical contact. I...

Contact theory has primarily been applied to the study of interactions between Blacks and Whites, with particular emphasis on changes in the attitudes of Whites towards Blacks. How individual contact with an out-group can influence not just attitudes, but also actual behavior, has not been thoroughly explored. Through an analysis of the 2006 Latino National Survey, using a measure that contrast...

The impact of social stimuli on the membrane potential dynamics of barrel cortex neurons is unknown. We obtained in vivo whole-cell recordings in the barrel cortex of head-restrained rats while they interacted with conspecifics. Social touch was associated with a depolarization and large membrane potential fluctuations locked to the rat's whisking. Both depolarization and membrane potential flu...

PURPOSE To compare and analyze changes in vision quality, subjective symptoms, and psycho-social satisfaction in keratoconus and myopic patients following the wearing of contact lenses. METHODS This study enrolled 25 keratoconus and 25 myopic patients with corrected vision over 0.8 according to the Snellen chart due to treatment with contact lenses. Patients were surveyed prior to the wearing...