Showing papers by "Roy F. Baumeister published in 2019"
TL;DR: It is proposed that phone calls and texting improve well-being, while use of social network sites (SNSs), instant messaging (IM), and online gaming may displace other social contacts and, thereby, impairWell-being.
Abstract: The puzzle of whether digital media are improving or harming psychological well-being has been plaguing researchers and the public for decades. Derived from media richness theory, this study proposed that phone calls and texting improve well-being, while use of social network sites (SNSs), instant messaging (IM), and online gaming may displace other social contacts and, thereby, impair well-being. To test this hypothesis, a meta-analysis of 124 studies was conducted. The results showed that phone calls and texting were positively correlated with well-being, whereas online gaming was negatively associated with well-being. Furthermore, the relationship between digital media use and well-being was also contingent upon the way the technology was used. A series of meta-analyses of different types of SNS use and well-being was used to elucidate this point: interaction, self-presentation, and entertainment on SNSs were associated with better well-being, whereas consuming SNSs’ content was associated with poorer well-being.
167 citations
TL;DR: An integrative model of effortful control, a resource-limited top-down control mechanism involved in mental tasks and physical exercises, that posits the intrinsic costs related to a weakening of the connectivity of neural networks underpinning efforts to overcome mental fatigue in long and high-demanding tasks is presented.
Abstract: This article presents an integrative model of effortful control, a resource-limited top-down control mechanism involved in mental tasks and physical exercises. Based on recent findings in the fields of neuroscience, social psychology and cognitive psychology, this model posits the intrinsic costs related to a weakening of the connectivity of neural networks underpinning effortful control as the main cause of mental fatigue in long and high-demanding tasks. In this framework, effort reflects three different inter-related aspects of the same construct. First, effort is a mechanism comprising a limited number of interconnected processing units that integrate information regarding the task constraints and subject's state. Second, effort is the main output of this mechanism, namely, the effort signal that modulates neuronal activity in brain regions involved in the current task to select pertinent information. Third, effort is a feeling that emerges in awareness during effortful tasks and reflects the costs associated with goal-directed behavior. Finally, the model opens new avenues for research investigating effortful control at the behavioral and neurophysiological levels.
35 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an experience sampling study with a large community sample furnished data on trait and state self-control in everyday life, including self-reports of ego-depleting events (restraining self, effortful decisions, and pushing self to do unwanted tasks) and feelings of depletion (emotional overreactions, difficulty making up mind, less mental energy).
Abstract: An experience sampling study with a large community sample (N = 3327) furnished data on trait and state self-control in everyday life. State measures were self-reports of ego-depleting events (restraining self, effortful decisions, and pushing self to do unwanted tasks) and feelings of depletion (emotional overreactions, difficulty making up mind, less mental energy). People with high trait self-control reported fewer such feelings and events than others. Poor sleep quality and interpersonal conflict were strong predictors of depleted feelings, and indeed the combination of very poor sleep and high interpersonal conflict led to a dramatic spike in reports of extremely depleted feelings. Depleted feelings were positively correlated with being young, female, politically non-extreme, and less well educated, and with finding life less meaningful, as well as with multitasking and hurrying. They increased across the day despite drops after meal times, thus attesting to the value of food and sleep. Pain and illness also raised them. Among other implications, the data suggest a composite picture of the daily life of someone with low trait self-control: frequently rushing and hurrying, not thinking about what they are doing, and just responding automatically to the current situation, as well as suffering aftereffects of interpersonal conflict and poor quality sleep.
34 citations
03 Apr 2019
TL;DR: The Social Psychology of Gullibility as mentioned in this paper explores what we know about the causes, functions, and consequences of gullibility, and the social psychological processes that promote or inhibit it, revealing what social and cognitive psychology contribute to our understanding of how human judgments and decisions can be distorted and undermined.
Abstract: Gullibility, whether we like it or not, is a fundamental characteristic of human beings. In The Social Psychology of Gullibility, Forgas and Baumeister explore what we know about the causes, functions, and consequences of gullibility, and the social psychological processes that promote or inhibit it. With contributions from leading international researchers, the book reveals what social and cognitive psychology contribute to our understanding of how human judgments and decisions can be distorted and undermined. The chapters discuss the nature and functions of gullibility, the role of cognitive processes in gullibility, the influence of emotion and motivation on gullibility, and social and cultural aspects of gullibility. Underpinned by a wealth of empirical research, contributors explore captivating issues such as the psychology of conspiracy theories, the role of political gullibility, gullibility in science, the role of the internet in fostering gullibility, and the failures of reasoning that contribute to human credulity. Gullibility has become a dominant topic of interest in public discourse. The Social Psychology of Gullibility is essential reading for researchers, social science students, professionals and practitioners and all those interested in understanding human credulity and the role of gullibility in contemporary public affairs.
32 citations
TL;DR: The question of whether there is such a thing as a true self was first raised by as mentioned in this paper, given frequent confusion and conflation of self with self-concept, but is there such thing?
Abstract: Research on authenticity frequently invokes notions of true self, but is there such thing? The question must be answered twice, given frequent confusion and conflation of self with self-concept. Su...
22 citations
TL;DR: The present work provides one potential explanation for these discrepant findings: People are strongly motivated to preserve free will and moral responsibility, and thus do not have stable, logically rigorous notions of free will.
Abstract: For years, experimental philosophers have attempted to discern whether laypeople find free will compatible with a scientifically deterministic understanding of the universe, yet no consensus has emerged. The present work provides one potential explanation for these discrepant findings: People are strongly motivated to preserve free will and moral responsibility, and thus do not have stable, logically rigorous notions of free will. Seven studies support this hypothesis by demonstrating that a variety of logically irrelevant (but motivationally relevant) features influence compatibilist judgments. In Study 1, participants who were asked to consider the possibility that our universe is deterministic were more compatibilist than those not asked to consider this possibility, suggesting that determinism poses a threat to moral responsibility, which increases compatibilist responding (thus reducing the threat). In Study 2, participants who considered concrete instances of moral behavior found compatibilist free will more sufficient for moral responsibility than participants who were asked about moral responsibility more generally. In Study 3a, the order in which participants read free will and determinism descriptions influenced their compatibilist judgments-and only when the descriptions had moral significance: Participants were more likely to report that determinism was compatible with free will than that free will was compatible with determinism. In Study 3b, participants who read the free will description first (the more compatibilist group) were particularly likely to confess that their beliefs in free will and moral responsibility and their disbelief in determinism influenced their conclusion. In Study 4, participants reduced their compatibilist beliefs after reading a passage that argued that moral responsibility could be preserved even in the absence of free will. Participants also reported that immaterial souls were compatible with scientific determinism, most strongly among immaterial soul believers (Study 5), and evaluated information about the capacities of primates in a biased manner favoring the existence of human free will (Study 6). These results suggest that people do not have one intuition about whether free will is compatible with determinism. Instead, people report that free will is compatible with determinism when desiring to uphold moral responsibility. Recommendations for future work are discussed.
19 citations
TL;DR: Two multi-wave, longitudinal studies used to test whether male and female members of newlywed couples experienced different rates of change in sexual desire, whether any changes were accentuated by childbirth, and whether any such changes had implications for marital satisfaction demonstrate that women's sexual desire declined more steeply over time than did men'sSexual desire, which did not decline on average.
Abstract: Sex is critical to marriage. Yet, there are several reasons to expect spouses to experience declines in the desire for sex over time, and the rates of any declines in sexual desire may differ for men and women. We used two multi-wave, longitudinal studies to test whether male and female members of newlywed couples experienced different rates of change in sexual desire, whether any such changes were accentuated by childbirth, and whether any such changes had implications for marital satisfaction. In both studies, spouses provided multiple reports of sexual desire, marital satisfaction, and childbirth. Results demonstrated that women’s sexual desire declined more steeply over time than did men’s sexual desire, which did not decline on average. Further, childbirth accentuated this sex difference by partially, though not completely, accounting for declines in women’s sexual desire but not men’s. Finally, declines in women’s but not men’s sexual desire predicted declines in both partners’ marital satisfaction. These effects held controlling depressive symptoms and stress, including stress from parenthood. The current findings offer novel longitudinal evidence for sex-differentiated changes in sexual desire and therefore suggest an important source of marital discord.
12 citations
04 Sep 2019
11 citations
TL;DR: This article found that rejection increased perception of the benefactor's warmth, and this increase in perceived warmth mediated the increase in gratitude, finding that rejected participants low in narcissistic entitlement were more grateful and engaged in more prosocial behavior than nonrejected participants.
Abstract: Three studies examined effects of social exclusion on reactions to receiving an unexpected gift. Trait Psychological Entitlement was also measured as a potential moderator in all studies. In Study 1, participants wrote about a time they felt rejected, accepted, or something neutral. Compared to the control condition, social exclusion increased self-reported gratitude and observer-rated gratitude. These effects were found among people scoring low on narcissistic entitlement. For these participants also, social rejection increased perception of the benefactor’s warmth, and this increase in perceived warmth mediated the increase in gratitude. Study 2 measured trait need to belong (rather than manipulating it via social rejection) and found similar results: participants low in trait entitlement and high in trait need to belong had higher levels of gratitude than those low in trait need to belong. In Study 3 some participants underwent a peer rejection manipulation. Upon receiving a gift, rejected participants low in entitlement were more grateful (according to self and observer ratings) and engaged in more prosocial behavior than nonrejected participants. The main conclusion is that, among people low in entitlement, social rejection stimulates a heightened desire for social connection, which moves them to functionally project warm intentions onto a benefactor, which in turn makes them more grateful.
8 citations
University of Social Sciences and Humanities1, University of Southern California2, University of Bamberg3, University of Queensland4, College of William & Mary5, Keimyung University6, Catholic University of Portugal7, University of California, Los Angeles8, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin9, Blaise Pascal University10, University of Crete11, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven12, Chungbuk National University13, University of Navarra14, Tilburg University15, Jacobs University Bremen16, Graduate University for Advanced Studies17
TL;DR: A survey about the 2014 FIFA World Cup measured attitudes about FIFA, players, and officials in 18 languages with 4600 respondents from 29 countries found people from countries with less institutional corruption and stronger rule of law perceived FIFA officials as being more corrupt and less competent running the tournament.
Abstract: We conducted a survey about the 2014 FIFA World Cup that measured attitudes about FIFA, players, and officials in 18 languages with 4600 respondents from 29 countries. Sixty percent of respondents perceived FIFA officials as being dishonest, and people from countries with less institutional corruption and stronger rule of law perceived FIFA officials as being more corrupt and less competent running the tournament than people from countries with more corruption and weaker rule of law. In contrast, respondents evaluated players as skilled and honest and match officials as competent and honest. We discuss the implications of our findings for perceptions of corruption in general.
5 citations
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that belief in free will is associated with lower indecisiveness, and that this effect is limited to individuals with high self-concept clarity, which is a boundary condition of this effect.
TL;DR: This article found that people moralize the future partly to guide their choices and actions, such as by increasing their motivation to restrain selfish impulses and build long-term cooperative relationships with others, and concluded that the psychology of moral accountability has a strong future component.
Abstract: When, if ever, would a person want to be held responsible for his or her choices? Across four studies (N = 915), people favored more extreme rewards and punishments for their future than their past actions. This included thinking that they should receive more blame and punishment for future misdeeds than for past ones, and more credit and reward for future good deeds than for past ones. The tendency to moralize the future more than the past was mediated by anticipating (one’s own) emotional reactions and concern about one’s reputation, which was stronger in the future as well. The findings fit the pragmatic view that people moralize the future partly to guide their choices and actions, such as by increasing their motivation to restrain selfish impulses and build long-term cooperative relationships with others. People typically believe that the future is open and changeable, while the past is not. We conclude that the psychology of moral accountability has a strong future component.
TL;DR: This work shows that mental hoarding and foraging allow people to prepare in uncertain situations by increasing their attentiveness to information related to the uncertainty.
Abstract: When an environment is uncertain, humans and other animals benefit from preparing for and attempting to predict potential outcomes. People respond to uncertainty both by conserving mental energy on tasks unrelated to the source of the uncertainty and by increasing their attentiveness to information related to the uncertainty. This mental hoarding and foraging allow people to prepare in uncertain situations.
01 Aug 2019
TL;DR: This article predicted a bias in typecasting, such that women are more easily typecast than men in moral interactions, and found that women were typecast as intentional perpetrators and suffering victims more often than men.
Abstract: Moral typecasting is the tendency to categorize intentional perpetrators and suffering victims within moral interactions. We predicted a bias in typecasting, such that women are more easily typecas...
03 Apr 2019
TL;DR: This introductory chapter will discuss the nature, functions, and social and cultural history of human gullibility, and the psychological processes that contribute to credulity.
Abstract: Gullibility seems to be a fundamental characteristic of human beings. Although the ability to share information with others is one the major evolutionary achievements of our species, this symbolic ability can also be a major source of gullibility. Understanding the processes that lead to gullibility is of growing importance in public life. This introductory chapter will discuss the nature, functions, and social and cultural history of human gullibility. In particular, the evolutionary significance and contemporary relevance of gullibility will be considered, and the psychological processes that contribute to credulity will be reviewed. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of the book.
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: McNulty et al. as discussed by the authors suggested that evolution has shaped people to form lasting alliances, not just by overvaluing their partners, but also in becoming more lovable themselves.
Abstract: Many people describe the time of being newly in love as one of life’s peak experiences. Years later, almost half of them people divorce after thinking they were to be married for life. How did they make such a grievous mistake? Traditional theory assumes that lovers are biased in judgments about their partners. This chapter suggests that evolution has shaped people to form lasting alliances, not just by overvaluing their partners, but also in becoming more lovable themselves. During passionate love, people tend to overestimate their partner’s positive qualities, and they themselves change so as to match those positive impressions. The combination of enhanced positive qualities and partners’ illusions is a largely unintentional process that evolution has shaped because it improves pair bonding, which in turn improves reproductive success. Recent data indicate that female sexual desire during courtship and newlywed phases is often followed by a loss of sexual desire that undermines both spouses’ marital satisfaction (McNulty, Maxwell, Meltzer, & Baumeister, under review). Men may therefore be gullible in terms of entering into a long-term commitment based on false assumptions about the amount of sex involved. This may serve as a useful model for the hypothesis that people become more lovable when in love.