Showing papers by "Roy F. Baumeister published in 2013"
TL;DR: In this article, a large survey revealed multiple differing predictors of happiness (controlling for meaning) and meaningfulness, including worry, stress, and anxiety, which were linked to higher meaningfulness but lower happiness.
Abstract: Being happy and finding life meaningful overlap, but there are important differences A large survey revealed multiple differing predictors of happiness (controlling for meaning) and meaningfulness (controlling for happiness) Satisfying one’s needs and wants increased happiness but was largely irrelevant to meaningfulness Happiness was largely present oriented, whereas meaningfulness involves integrating past, present, and future For example, thinking about future and past was associated with high meaningfulness but low happiness Happiness was linked to being a taker rather than a giver, whereas meaningfulness went with being a giver rather than a taker Higher levels of worry, stress, and anxiety were linked to higher meaningfulness but lower happiness Concerns with personal identity and expressing the self contributed to meaning but not happiness We offer brief composite sketches of the unhappy but meaningful life and of the happy but meaningless life
559 citations
TL;DR: The history of the attempt to cast teleology out of science is reviewed, culminating in the failures of behaviorism and psychoanalysis to account adequately for action without teleology.
Abstract: Prospection (Gilbert & Wilson, 2007), the representation of possible futures, is a ubiquitous feature of the human mind. Much psychological theory and practice, in contrast, has understood human action as determined by the past and viewed any such teleology (selection of action in light of goals) as a violation of natural law because the future cannot act on the present. Prospection involves no backward causation; rather, it is guidance not by the future itself but by present, evaluative representations of possible future states. These representations can be understood minimally as “If X, then Y” conditionals, and the process of prospection can be understood as the generation and evaluation of these conditionals. We review the history of the attempt to cast teleology out of science, culminating in the failures of behaviorism and psychoanalysis to account adequately for action without teleology. A wide range of evidence suggests that prospection is a central organizing feature of perception, cognition, affect, memory, motivation, and action. The authors speculate that prospection casts new light on why subjectivity is part of consciousness, what is “free” and “willing” in “free will,” and on mental disorders and their treatment. Viewing behavior as driven by the past was a powerful framework that helped create scientific psychology, but accumulating evidence in a wide range of areas of research suggests a shift in framework, in which navigation into the future is seen as a core organizing principle of animal and human behavior.
481 citations
TL;DR: Evidence is found that a sense of belonging predicts how meaningful life is perceived to be and how independent evaluations of participants essays on meaning in life are evaluated.
Abstract: In four methodologically diverse studies (N = 644), we found correlational (Study 1), longitudinal (Study 2), and experimental (Studies 3 and 4) evidence that a sense of belonging predicts how meaningful life is perceived to be. In Study 1 (n = 126), we found a strong positive correlation between sense of belonging and meaningfulness. In Study 2 (n = 248), we found that initial levels of sense of belonging predicted perceived meaningfulness of life, obtained 3 weeks later. Furthermore, initial sense of belonging predicted independent evaluations of participants essays on meaning in life. In Studies 3 (n = 105) and 4 (n = 165), we primed participants with belongingness, social support, or social value and found that those primed with belongingness (Study 3) or who increased in belongingness (Study 4) reported the highest levels of perceived meaning. In Study 4, belonging mediated the relationship between experimental condition and meaning.
432 citations
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: Literature reviews occupy an important corner of the world of scientific activity, yet most scientists do not receive training in how to write them, and new ideas increasingly have to build on previously published works.
Abstract: Literature reviews occupy an important corner of the world of scientific activity, yet most scientists do not receive training in how to write them. In the early days of psychological research, many people did their research based on intuitions and personal insights, and one did not have to spend much time in background reading simply because there was not much to read. As our field’s knowledge base expands month by month, however, it becomes increasingly important to be able to master the amount of information already published. New ideas increasingly have to build on previously published works.
220 citations
17 Jun 2013
158 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between sharing positive experiences and positive affect using a diary method (Study 1) and laboratory manipulations (Studies 2 and 3) and found that sharing the positive experience heightened its impact on positive affect.
Abstract: In a series of five studies we examined the relationship between sharing positive experiences and positive affect using a diary method (Study 1) and laboratory manipulations (Studies 2 and 3). All of these studies demonstrated that sharing the positive experience heightened its impact on positive affect. In Study 4, we conducted a four-week journal study in which the experimental participants kept a journal of grateful experiences and shared them with a partner twice a week. Control participants either kept a journal of grateful experience (without sharing), or kept a journal of class learnings and shared it with a partner. Those who shared their positive experiences increased in positive affect, happiness, and life satisfaction over the course of four weeks. Study 5 showed that those who received an “active-constructive” response to good news (enthusiastic support) expressed more positive affect than participants in all other conditions, indicating that the response of the listener is important. In sum, ...
132 citations
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TL;DR: It is speculated that expressive behavior and moral decision making use prospective processes parallel to those used in nonmoral decisions, as well as considerations of scientific method require determinism.
Abstract: Evidence of prospective processes is increasingly common in psychological research, which suggests the fruitfulness of a theoretical framework for mind and brain built around future orientation. No metaphysics of determinism or indeterminism is presupposed by this framework, nor do considerations of scientific method require determinism—successful scientific theories in the natural sciences all involve probabilistic elements. We speculate that expressive behavior and moral decision making use prospective processes parallel to those used in nonmoral decisions.
117 citations
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that belief in free will contributes to autonomous action and resisting temptations and pressures to conform to group norms, while belief in a belief in God's will reduces the effort needed for autonomous thought and action.
107 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that self-control is required for keeping attention away from anxiety-related worries, which would otherwise distract a person from performing on the test, and may help to clarify the anxiety-performance relationship and offer a novel approach for counteracting performance decrements associated with test anxiety.
Abstract: In the present work, we examine the role of self-control resources within the relationship between anxiety and cognitive test performance. We argue that self-control is required for keeping attention away from anxiety-related worries, which would otherwise distract a person from performing on the test. In Study 1 (N = 67) and Study 2 (N = 96), we found that state anxiety was negatively related to performance of verbal learning and mental arithmetic if participants' self-control resources were depleted, but it was unrelated if participants' self-control was intact. In Study 3 (N = 99), the worry component of trait test anxiety was more strongly related to perceived distraction by worries while performing an arithmetic task for participants with depleted self-control resources than for nondepleted participants. Furthermore, distraction by worries showed to be responsible for suboptimal performance. The findings may help to clarify the anxiety-performance relationship and offer a novel approach for counteracting performance decrements associated with test anxiety.
73 citations
TL;DR: Evidence is found that people apparently have 2 contradictory sets of associations to money, which is a complex, powerful, and ubiquitous aspect of human social life and cultural organization.
Abstract: Does the cue of money lead to selfish, greedy, exploitative behaviors or to fairness, exchange, and reciprocity? We found evidence for both, suggesting that people have both sets of meaningful associations, which can be differentially activated by exposure to clean versus dirty money. In a field experiment at a farmers’ market, vendors who handled dirty money subsequently cheated customers, whereas those who handled clean money gave fair value (Experiment 1). In laboratory studies with economic games, participants who had previously handled and counted dirty money tended toward selfish, unfair practices—unlike those who had counted clean money or dirty paper, both of which led to fairness and reciprocity. These patterns were found with the trust game (Experiment 2), the prisoner’s dilemma (Experiment 4), the ultimatum game (Experiment 5), and the dictator game (Experiment 6). Cognitive measures indicated that exposure to dirty money lowered moral standards (Experiment 3) and reduced positive attitudes toward fairness and reciprocity (Experiments 6–7), whereas exposure to clean money had the opposite effects. Thus, people apparently have 2 contradictory sets of associations (including behavioral tendencies) to money, which is a complex, powerful, and ubiquitous aspect of human social life and cultural organization.
TL;DR: Findings are promising regarding the potential aggression-reducing effects of prosocial context, but caution is still warranted as a small effect size difference was still observed, indicating that aggressive behavior was not completely eliminated by the inclusion of a prossocial context for the violence.
Abstract: Previous work has shown that playing violent video games can stimulate aggression toward others. The current research has identified a potential exception. Participants who played a violent game in which the violence had an explicitly prosocial motive (i.e., protecting a friend and furthering his nonviolent goals) were found to show lower short-term aggression (Study 1) and show higher levels of prosocial cognition (Study 2) than individuals who played a violent game in which the violence was motivated by more morally ambiguous motives. Thus, violent video games that are framed in an explicitly prosocial context may evoke more prosocial sentiments and thereby mitigate some of the short-term effects on aggression observed in previous research. While these findings are promising regarding the potential aggression-reducing effects of prosocial context, caution is still warranted as a small effect size difference (d = .2-.3), although nonsignificant, was still observed between those who played the explicitly prosocial violent game and those who played a nonviolent game; indicating that aggressive behavior was not completely eliminated by the inclusion of a prosocial context for the violence.
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: The authors argue that the erosion of the societal influence of religion, traditionally the central source for meaning in people's lives, has led to a value gap which modern society has attempted to fill.
Abstract: We present four needs for meaning that humans seek to fulfill in order to view their lives as meaningful – purpose, value justification, self-efficacy, and self-worth. We discuss the shift in sources of meaning, arguing that the erosion of the societal influence of religion – traditionally the central source for meaning in people’s lives – has led to a value gap which modern society has attempted to fill. The successes and failures society has encountered in this attempt are discussed. Lastly, we discuss the consequences this value gap may have for society moving forward.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of motivation and beliefs on self-control were found to be limited to cases of mild depletion, while when depletion is extensive, motivation and subjective belief vanished and in one case reversed.
TL;DR: The present paper reviews the latest theories and evidence from psychology that addresses what conscious thought is and how it affects human behavior and suggests that conscious thought adapts human behavior to life in complex society and culture.
Abstract: Humans enjoy a private, mental life that is richer and more vivid than that of any other animal. Yet as central as the conscious experience is to human life, numerous disciplines have long struggled to explain it. The present paper reviews the latest theories and evidence from psychology that addresses what conscious thought is and how it affects human behavior. We suggest that conscious thought adapts human behavior to life in complex society and culture. First, we review research challenging the common notion that conscious thought directly guides and controls action. Second, we present an alternative view—that conscious thought processes actions and events that are typically removed from the here and now, and that it indirectly shapes action to favor culturally adaptive responses. Third, we summarize recent empirical work on conscious thought, which generally supports this alternative view. We see conscious thought as the place where the unconscious mind assembles ideas so as to reach new conclusions about how best to behave, or what outcomes to pursue or avoid. Rather than directly controlling action, conscious thought provides the input from these kinds of mental simulations to the executive. Conscious thought offers insights about the past and future, socially shared information, and cultural rules. Without it, the complex forms of social and cultural coordination that define human life would not be possible.
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: The goal of this chapter is to discuss how religion affects people's ability to be self-controlled, and to explore how religion might contribute to people's attempts to control themselves and pursue virtue.
Abstract: In this chapter, we examine the power of religion to promote morally virtuous behavior by means of improving self-control. More precisely, the goal of this chapter is to discuss how religion affects people's ability to be self-controlled. As a foundation, we present evidence that self-control is important for avoiding vice and enacting virtue, and we review theory and research about how self-control operates. Then we explore how religion might contribute to people's attempts to control themselves and pursue virtue. Stretching the reach of analysis from the individual to the culture, as we are doing in this chapter automatically invokes the multilevel interdisciplinary paradigm. The perspective presented in this chapter is also consistent with the idea of religion as a meaning system.
TL;DR: Findings from an online survey flatly contradict the claims made by James Miles (2013) that belief in a just world did produce many of the patterns Miles attributed to belief in free will.
Abstract: Greater belief in free will is associated with greater empathy towards the working poor, support for social mobility, greater desire for socio-economic equality, and less belief that poor people are fated to live in poverty. We found no sign that belief in free will led to prejudice or discrimination against poor people or undercut justice. These findings from an online survey flatly contradict the claims made by James Miles (2013). Belief in a just world did produce many of the patterns Miles attributed to belief in free will. We also question the reasoning and the strength of the purported evidence in his article, and we recommend that future writers on the topic should cultivate cautious, open-minded consideration of competing views. Miles’ article is a useful reminder that to some writers, the topic of free will elicits strong emotional reactions.
13 Feb 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed evidence that social rejection reduces intelligent thought and self-regulation, and found that rejection reduces self-control, as people who are rejected perform poorly on a wealth of self control tasks.
Abstract: This chapter reviews evidence that social rejection reduces intelligent thought and self-regulation. Correlational research has demonstrated that social rejection and low intellectual performance are related, as loneliness is associated with poor cognitive functioning. Experimental research has shed light on the correlational findings, as participants assigned to be rejected performed slowly and inaccurately on reasoning problems relative to participants assigned to control conditions. Hence, social rejection reduces intelligent thought. Evidence also indicates that rejection reduces self-control, as people who are rejected perform poorly on a wealth of self-control tasks.
TL;DR: Any evolved disposition for fairness and cooperation would not replace but merely compete with selfish and other antisocial impulses, so it is proposed that human cooperation and fairness depend on self-regulation.
Abstract: Any evolved disposition for fairness and cooperation would not replace but merely compete with selfish and other antisocial impulses. Therefore, we propose that human cooperation and fairness depend on self-regulation. Evidence shows reductions in fairness and other prosocial tendencies when self-regulation fails.
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: The authors argue that comic books are popular in part because they satisfy a basic human motivation: the motivation to divide the social world into good people and bad, and to morally praise and condemn them accordingly.
Abstract: In this chapter we will argue that superhero comics, like other moralistic tales, are popular in part because they satisfy a basic human motivation: the motivation to divide the social world into good people and bad, and to morally praise and condemn them accordingly. In their modern superhero comic incarnation, however, these tales depict an exaggerated morality that has been stripped of its real-world subtlety. In tales of superhero versus supervillain, moral good and moral bad are always the actions of easily identifiable moral agents with unambiguous intentions and actions. It is these very qualities that make these stories so enjoyable. Much like the appeal of the exaggerated, caricatured sexuality found in pornography, superhero comics offer the appeal of an exaggerated and caricatured morality that satisfies the natural human inclination toward moralization. In short, the modern superhero comic is a form of "moral pornography"—built to satisfy our moralistic urges, but ultimately unrealistic and, in the end, potentially misleading.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explain the relevance of self-control and willpower for antisocial behaviour and forensic practice, and propose a methodology for applying a correct understanding of how selfcontrol functions.
Abstract: Purpose – This article aims to explain the relevance of new findings about self‐control and willpower for antisocial behaviour and forensic practice.Design/methodology/approach – The relevance of the phenomena is covered first, followed by an exposition of how self‐control works.Findings – The basic ingredients for effective self‐control are standards, monitoring, and willpower. Willpower fluctuates as a function of demands on it (including decision making) and bodily states (including food and rest). Self‐control and willpower can be increased, even in adults.Practical implications – Antisocial and criminal behaviour is often mediated by failures of self‐control. Remediation and prevention can benefit by applying a correct understanding of how self‐control functions.Originality/value – Understanding of self‐control has advanced greatly in recent years and is highly relevant to forensic practice. Clients can learn to gain control over their actions.
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: The evolutionary perspective raises difficulties for the assumption that people pursue happiness and meaning as mentioned in this paper, since being happy has no obvious or direct contribution to either survival or reproduction, and finding life meaningful offers even less.
Abstract: This article proposed there is more than happiness to life. People desire meaning. From a place with a remarkably low level of happiness a concentration camp that quickly executed most people who arrived there he observed that whether people survived or not was related to whether they could find meaning. The evolutionary perspective raises difficulties for the assumption that people pursue happiness and meaning. Being happy has no obvious or direct contribution to either survival or reproduction, and finding life meaningful offers even less. Further an article can sum up these findings as follows. The happy but not meaningful life involves seeking pleasure and satisfaction in the immediate present, getting others to do one's bidding, and avoiding stressful entanglements. The meaningful but unhappy life is a matter of striving and struggling to express oneself, to contribute to the welfare of others even to one's own detriment, guiding one's actions in the present based on past and future, experiencing the highs and lows associated with challenging involvements in ambitious projects with uncertain outcomes that involve things much bigger than oneself.
TL;DR: Van de Vliert's findings fit nicely with the recent arguments implying that (1) differentiated selfhood is partly motivated by requirements of cultural groups, and (2) free will mainly exists within culture.
Abstract: Van de Vliert's findings fit nicely with our recent arguments implying that (1) differentiated selfhood is partly motivated by requirements of cultural groups, and (2) free will mainly exists within culture. Some cultural groups promote individual freedom, whereas others constrict it so as to maintain elites' power and privilege. Thus, freedom is, to a great extent, a creation of culture.