Showing papers in "Personality and Social Psychology Review in 2010"
TL;DR: A meta-analysis was conducted on empirical trials investigating the mortality salience (MS) hypothesis of terror management theory, finding moderate effects on a range of worldview- and self-esteem-related dependent variables (DVs).
Abstract: A meta-analysis was conducted on empirical trials investigating the mortality salience (MS) hypothesis of terror management theory (TMT). TMT postulates that investment in cultural worldviews and self-esteem serves to buffer the potential for death anxiety; the MS hypothesis states that, as a consequence, accessibility of death-related thought (MS) should instigate increased worldview and self-esteem defense and striving. Overall, 164 articles with 277 experiments were included. MS yielded moderate effects (r = .35) on a range of worldview- and self-esteem-related dependent variables (DVs), with effects increased for experiments using (a) American participants, (b) college students, (c) a longer delay between MS and the DV, and (d) people-related attitudes as the DV. Gender and self-esteem may moderate MS effects differently than previously thought. Results are compared to other reviews and examined with regard to alternative explanations of TMT. Finally, suggestions for future research are offered.
902 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that social psychology can best contribute to scholarship on religion by being relentlessly social, and begin with a social-functionalist approach in which beliefs, rituals, and other aspects of religious practice are best understood as means of creating a moral community.
Abstract: Social psychologists have often followed other scientists in treating religiosity primarily as a set of beliefs held by individuals. But, beliefs are only one facet of this complex and multidimensional construct. The authors argue that social psychology can best contribute to scholarship on religion by being relentlessly social. They begin with a social-functionalist approach in which beliefs, rituals, and other aspects of religious practice are best understood as means of creating a moral community. They discuss the ways that religion is intertwined with five moral foundations, in particular the group-focused “binding” foundations of Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, Purity/sanctity. The authors use this theoretical perspective to address three mysteries about religiosity, including why religious people are happier, why they are more charitable, and why most people in the world are religious.
648 citations
TL;DR: Consideration of religion’s dual function as a social identity and a belief system may facilitate greater understanding of the variability in its importance across individuals and groups.
Abstract: As a social identity anchored in a system of guiding beliefs and symbols, religion ought to serve a uniquely powerful function in shaping psychological and social processes. Religious identification offers a distinctive "sacred" worldview and "eternal" group membership, unmatched by identification with other social groups. Thus, religiosity might be explained, at least partially, by the marked cognitive and emotional value that religious group membership provides. The uniqueness of a positive social group, grounded in a belief system that offers epistemological and ontological certainty, lends religious identity a twofold advantage for the promotion of well-being. However, that uniqueness may have equally negative impacts when religious identity itself is threatened through intergroup conflict. Such consequences are illustrated by an examination of identities ranging from religious fundamentalism to atheism. Consideration of religion's dual function as a social identity and a belief system may facilitate greater understanding of the variability in its importance across individuals and groups.
605 citations
TL;DR: The authors demonstrate poor CFA fit for several widely used personality measures with documented evidence of criterion-related validity but also show that some measures perform well from an exploratory factor analytic perspective.
Abstract: Personality trait inventories often perform poorly when their structure is evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The authors demonstrate poor CFA fit for several widely used personality measures with documented evidence of criterion-related validity but also show that some measures perform well from an exploratory factor analytic perspective. In light of these results, the authors suggest that the failure of these measures to fit CFA models is because of the inherent complexity of personality, issues related to its measurement, and issues related to the application and interpretation of CFA models. This leads to three recommendations for researchers interested in the structure and assessment of personality traits: (a) utilize and report on a range of factor analytic methods, (b) avoid global evaluations regarding the internal validity of multiscale personality measures based on model fit according to conventional CFA cutoffs, and (c) consider the substantive and practical implications of model modifications designed to improve fit.
522 citations
TL;DR: Research is reviewed demonstrating that mortality salience produces increased belief in afterlife, supernatural agency, human ascension from nature, and spiritual distinctions between mind and body.
Abstract: From a terror management theory (TMT) perspective, religion serves to manage the potential terror engendered by the uniquely human awareness of death by affording a sense of psychological security and hope of immortality. Although secular beliefs can also serve a terror management function, religious beliefs are particularly well suited to mitigate death anxiety because they are all encompassing, rely on concepts that are not easily disconfirmed, and promise literal immortality. Research is reviewed demonstrating that mortality salience produces increased belief in afterlife, supernatural agency, human ascension from nature, and spiritual distinctions between mind and body. The social costs and benefits of religious beliefs are considered and compared to those of secular worldviews. The terror management functions of, and benefits and costs associated with, different types of religious orientation, such as intrinsic religiosity, quest, and religious fundamentalism, are then examined. Finally, the TMT analysis is compared to other accounts of religion.
408 citations
TL;DR: Understanding how stigma of accents and communication affect each other provides a new theoretical approach to studying this type of stigma and can eventually lead to interventions.
Abstract: The present review seeks to bridge research on accents, stigma, and communication by examining the empirical literature on nonnative accents, considering the perspectives of both speakers and listeners. The authors suggest that an accent, or one’s manner of pronunciation, differs from other types of stigma. They consider the role of communicative processes in the manner in which accents influence people and identify social and contextual factors related to accents that affect the speaker, the listener, and the interaction between them. The authors propose a framework of stigma of accents and possible future avenues of research to examine the social psychological and communicative effects of accents. They also discuss implications for stigma of other types of accents (e.g., other native, regional, and ethnic). Understanding how stigma of accents and communication affect each other provides a new theoretical approach to studying this type of stigma and can eventually lead to interventions.
357 citations
TL;DR: A meta-analytic review of past research evaluated the link between religiosity and racism in the United States since the Civil Rights Act to find that racial tolerance arises from humanitarian values, consistent with the idea that religious humanitarianism is largely expressed to in-group members.
Abstract: A meta-analytic review of past research evaluated the link between religiosity and racism in the United States since the Civil Rights Act. Religious racism partly reflects intergroup dynamics. That is, a strong religious in-group identity was associated with derogation of racial out-groups. Other races might be treated as out-groups because religion is practiced largely within race, because training in a religious in-group identity promotes general ethnocentrism, and because different others appear to be in competition for resources. In addition, religious racism is tied to basic life values of social conformity and respect for tradition. In support, individuals who were religious for reasons of conformity and tradition expressed racism that declined in recent years with the decreased societal acceptance of overt racial discrimination. The authors failed to find that racial tolerance arises from humanitarian values, consistent with the idea that religious humanitarianism is largely expressed to in-group members. Only religious agnostics were racially tolerant.
335 citations
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of the truth effect revealed that several moderators affect both effects differentially, lending support to the notion that different psychological comparison processes may underlie the two effects.
Abstract: Repetition has been shown to increase subjective truth ratings of trivia statements. This truth effect can be measured in two ways: (a) as the increase in subjective truth from the first to the second encounter (within-items criterion) and (b) as the difference in truth ratings between repeated and other new statements (between-items criterion). Qualitative differences are assumed between the processes underlying both criteria. A meta-analysis of the truth effect was conducted that compared the two criteria. In all, 51 studies of the repetition-induced truth effect were included in the analysis. Results indicate that the between-items effect is larger than the within-items effect. Moderator analyses reveal that several moderators affect both effects differentially. This lends support to the notion that different psychological comparison processes may underlie the two effects. The results are discussed within the processing fluency account of the truth effect.
315 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that religions have attributes that make them well suited to reduce feelings of self-uncertainty, and are entitative groups that provide a moral compass and rules for living that pervade a person’s life, making them particularly attractive in times of uncertainty.
Abstract: The authors characterize religions as social groups and religiosity as the extent to which a person identifies with a religion, subscribes to its ideology or worldview, and conforms to its normative practices. They argue that religions have attributes that make them well suited to reduce feelings of self-uncertainty. According to uncertainty-identity theory, people are motivated to reduce feelings of uncertainty about or reflecting on self; and identification with groups, particularly highly entitative groups, is a very effective way to reduce uncertainty. All groups provide belief systems and normative prescriptions related to everyday life. However, religions also address the nature of existence, invoking sacred entities and associated rituals and ceremonies. They are entitative groups that provide a moral compass and rules for living that pervade a person’s life, making them particularly attractive in times of uncertainty. The authors document data supporting their analysis and discuss conditions that transform religiosity into religious zealotry and extremism.
306 citations
TL;DR: The authors show how dialectical thinkers show greater expectation of change in tasks related to explanation and prediction and greater tolerance of contradiction in tasks involving the reconciliation of contradictory information in the domains of the self, emotional experience, psychological well-being, attitudes and evaluations, social categorization and perception, and judgment and decision making.
Abstract: Since the publication of Peng and Nisbett’s seminal paper on dialectical thinking, a substantial amount of empirical research has replicated and expanded on the core finding that people differ in the degree to which they view the world as inherently contradictory and in constant flux. Dialectical thinkers (who are more often members of East Asian than Western cultures) show greater expectation of change in tasks related to explanation and prediction and greater tolerance of contradiction in tasks involving the reconciliation of contradictory information. The authors show how these effects are manifested in the domains of the self, emotional experience, psychological well-being, attitudes and evaluations, social categorization and perception, and judgment and decision making. They note important topics in need of further investigation and offer predictions concerning possible cultural differences in unexplored domains as a function of the presence or absence of naive dialecticism.
298 citations
TL;DR: The main personality characteristics of religiousness (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) are consistent across different religious dimensions, contexts, and personality measures, models, and levels, and they seem to predict religiousness rather than be influenced by it.
Abstract: Individual differences in religiousness can be partly explained as a cultural adaptation of two basic personality traits, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. This argument is supported by a meta-analysis of 71 samples (N = 21,715) from 19 countries and a review of the literature on personality and religion. Beyond variations in effect magnitude as a function of moderators, the main personality characteristics of religiousness (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) are consistent across different religious dimensions, contexts (gender, age, cohort, and country), and personality measures, models, and levels, and they seem to predict religiousness rather than be influenced by it. The copresence of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness sheds light on other explanations of religiousness, its distinctiveness from related constructs, its implications for other domains, and its adaptive functions.
TL;DR: The authors operationalized self-enhancement as socially desirable responding (SDR) and focused on three facets of religiosity: intrinsic, extrinsic, and religion-as-quest.
Abstract: In a meta-analysis, the authors test the theoretical formulation that religiosity is a means for self-enhancement. The authors operationalized self-enhancement as socially desirable responding (SDR) and focused on three facets of religiosity: intrinsic, extrinsic, and religion-as-quest. Importantly, they assessed two moderators of the relation between SDR and religiosity. Macro-level culture reflected countries that varied in degree of religiosity (from high to low: United States, Canada, United Kingdom). Micro-level culture reflected U.S. universities high (Christian) versus low (secular) on religiosity. The results were generally consistent with the theoretical formulation. Both macro-level and micro-level culture moderated the relation between SDR and religiosity: This relation was more positive in samples that placed higher value on religiosity (United States > Canada > United Kingdom; Christian universities > secular universities). The evidence suggests that religiosity is partly in the service of self-enhancement.
TL;DR: It is concluded that compensatory religious conviction can be a flexible source of personal and external control for relief from the anxiety associated with random and uncertain experiences.
Abstract: The authors review experimental evidence that religious conviction can be a defensive source of compensatory control when personal or external sources of control are low. They show evidence that (a) belief in religious deities and secular institutions can serve as external forms of control that can compensate for manipulations that lower personal control and (b) religious conviction can also serve as compensatory personal control after experimental manipulations that lower other forms of personal or external control. The authors review dispositional factors that differentially orient individuals toward external or personal varieties of compensatory control and conclude that compensatory religious conviction can be a flexible source of personal and external control for relief from the anxiety associated with random and uncertain experiences.
TL;DR: The evidence suggested that both motives are influential but control different response classes, and it is concluded that future researchers should broaden the bandwidth of their explanatory frameworks to include motives other than self-enhancement.
Abstract: Some contemporary theorists contend that the desire for self-enhancement is prepotent and more powerful than rival motives such as self-verification. If so, then even people with negative self-views will embrace positive evaluations. The authors tested this proposition by conducting a meta-analytic review of the relevant literature. The data provided ample evidence of self-enhancement strivings but little evidence of its prepotency. Instead, the evidence suggested that both motives are influential but control different response classes. In addition, other motives may sometimes come into play. For example, when rejection risk is high, people seem to abandon self-verification strivings, apparently in an effort to gratify their desire for communion. However, when rejection risk is low, as is the case in many secure marital relationships, people prefer self-verifying evaluations. The authors conclude that future researchers should broaden the bandwidth of their explanatory frameworks to include motives other ...
TL;DR: This article focuses on a contradiction in Bandura’s rebuttal, which has led to a disproportionate focus on self-efficacy as a causal determinant of behavior at the expense of expected outcomes.
Abstract: According to self-efficacy theory, self-efficacy—defined as perceived capability to perform a behavior—causally influences expected outcomes of behavior, but not vice versa. However, research has shown that expected outcomes causally influence self-efficacy judgments, and some authors have argued that this relationship invalidates self-efficacy theory. Bandura has rebutted those arguments saying that self-efficacy judgments are not invalidated when influenced by expected outcomes. This article focuses on a contradiction in Bandura’s rebuttal. Specifically, Bandura has argued (a) expected outcomes cannot causally influence self-efficacy, but (b) self-efficacy judgments remain valid when causally influenced by expected outcomes. While the debate regarding outcome expectancies and self-efficacy has subsided in recent years, the inattention to this contradiction has led to a disproportionate focus on self-efficacy as a causal determinant of behavior at the expense of expected outcomes.
TL;DR: Findings from the psychology of religion showing that believers’ perceived relationships with God meet the definitional criteria for attachment relationships are reviewed and a more inclusive framework that accommodates concepts such as mindfulness and "nonattachment" from nontheistic religions such as Buddhism and New Age spirituality is proposed.
Abstract: The authors review findings from the psychology of religion showing that believers' perceived relationships with God meet the definitional criteria for attachment relationships. They also review evidence for associations between aspects of religion and individual differences in interpersonal attachment security and insecurity. They focus on two developmental pathways to religion. The first is a "compensation" pathway involving distress regulation in the context of insecure attachment and past experiences of insensitive caregiving. Research suggests that religion as compensation might set in motion an "earned security" process for individuals who are insecure with respect to attachment. The second is a "correspondence" pathway based on secure attachment and past experiences with sensitive caregivers who were religious. The authors also discuss conceptual limitations of a narrow religion-as-attachment model and propose a more inclusive framework that accommodates concepts such as mindfulness and "nonattachment" from nontheistic religions such as Buddhism and New Age spirituality.
TL;DR: The authors propose that God is seen as the ultimate moral agent, the entity people blame and praise when they receive anomalous harm and help, and support for this proposition comes from research on mind perception, morality, and moral typecasting.
Abstract: Believing in God requires not only a leap of faith but also an extension of people’s normal capacity to perceive the minds of others. Usually, people perceive minds of all kinds by trying to understand their conscious experience (what it is like to be them) and their agency (what they can do). Although humans are perceived to have both agency and experience, humans appear to see God as possessing agency, but not experience. God’s unique mind is due, the authors suggest, to the uniquely moral role He occupies. In this article, the authors propose that God is seen as the ultimate moral agent, the entity people blame and praise when they receive anomalous harm and help. Support for this proposition comes from research on mind perception, morality, and moral typecasting. Interestingly, although people perceive God as the author of salvation, suffering seems to evoke even more attributions to the divine.
TL;DR: This article proposed a formal and thus axiomatic rather than causal relationship between an attitude and its corresponding performances, and drew implications of their proposal for mainstream attitude theory, empirical research, and applications concerning attitudes.
Abstract: Because people often say one thing and do another, social psychologists have abandoned the idea of a simple or axiomatic connection between attitude and behavior. Nearly 50 years ago, however, Donald Campbell proposed that the root of the seeming inconsistency between attitude and behavior lies in disregard of behavioral costs. According to Campbell, attitude- behavior gaps are empirical chimeras. Verbal claims and other overt behaviors regarding an attitude object all arise from one "behavioral disposition." In this article, the authors present the constituents of and evidence for a paradigm for attitude research that describes individual behavior as a function of a person's attitude level and the costs of the specific behavior involved. In the authors' version of Campbell's paradigm, they propose a formal and thus axiomatic rather than causal relationship between an attitude and its corresponding performances. The authors draw implications of their proposal for mainstream attitude theory, empirical research, and applications concerning attitudes.
TL;DR: A tentative model of the causes and effects of alterations in OT level is proposed and must remain provisional until conceptual and methodological problems are addressed that arise from a failure to distinguish between traits and states.
Abstract: Despite a general consensus that oxytocin (OT) has prosocial effects, there is no clear agreement on how these effects are achieved. Human research on OT is reviewed under three broad research initiatives: attachment and trust, social memory, and fear reduction. As an organizing perspective for scholars’ current knowledge, a tentative model of the causes and effects of alterations in OT level is proposed. The model must remain provisional until conceptual and methodological problems are addressed that arise from a failure to distinguish between traits and states, differing research paradigms used in relation to OT as an independent versus dependent variable, and the possibility that OT effects depend on the initial emotional state of the individual. Social and personality psychologists have important roles to play in developing more rigorous and creative research designs.
TL;DR: The present work suggests that some seemingly irrational aspects of religion may have important psychological benefits by promoting implicit self-regulation.
Abstract: To maintain religious standards, individuals must frequently endure aversive or forsake pleasurable experiences. Yet religious individuals on average display higher levels of emotional well-being compared to nonreligious individuals. The present article seeks to resolve this paradox by suggesting that many forms of religion may facilitate a self-regulatory mode that is flexible, efficient, and largely unconscious. In this implicit mode of self-regulation, religious individuals may be able to strive for high standards and simultaneously maintain high emotional well-being. A review of the empirical literature confirmed that religious stimuli and practices foster implicit self-regulation, particularly among individuals who fully internalized their religion’s standards. The present work suggests that some seemingly irrational aspects of religion may have important psychological benefits by promoting implicit self-regulation.
TL;DR: For example, this paper argued that there is no reason to advocate a designer to explain the complexity of living things, and pointed out that the demand for a designer beg the question "who designed the designer" and overlooks the fact that systemic elements, given time, form on their own a complex structure.
Abstract: An enduring legacy of Darwinian theory, beside the small detail of offering a mechanism for how living things evolve (i.e., natural selection), is that there is no reason to advocate a designer to explain the complexity of living things (Darwin, 1859). Not only does the demand for a designer beg the question “who designed the designer,” it also overlooks the fact that systemic elements, given time, form on their own a complex structure (Dennett, 1995). A superfluity of empirical findings has established that evolution is an irrefutable fact. An avalanche of scientific discoveries, from the laws of physics to the principles of astronomy, have been consistent with the idea of a universe evolved over billions of years rather than a universe created less than 10,000 years ago (Dawkins, 2009). There is seemingly no purpose to the universe, intercessory prayer is no more effective than chance, and religions—at least in their popular form—are, it has been argued, irrational, contradictory, pathological, illusory, exploitative, and potentially dangerous (Dawkins, 2006; Freud, 1927/1961b; Harris, 2004; Hitchens, 2007; Leuba, 1925; Marx, 1843; Skinner, 1953). Yet organized religion and religiosity (i.e., beliefs and practices related to a supernatural agent) are prevalent. Worldwide, 85% of people report having at least some form of religious belief (Zuckerman, 2005), and 82% report that religion constitutes an important part of their daily life (Crabtree, 2009). In the United States, 94% of respondents express a belief in God, 82% state that religion is at least fairly important to them, and 76% consider the Bible the actual or inspired word of God (Gallup, 2009). In contrast, only 15% worldwide describe themselves as nonreligious, agnostics, or atheists (Zuckerman, 2005). If anything, atheists are strong and frequent targets of prejudice (Edgell, Gerteis, & Hartmann, 2006). Why, then, does religion persist in the face of Darwinian theory and evidence, scientific facts, secular arguments, and name-calling? Biologists, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, philosophers, historians, and journalists have taken turns in answering this question (Atran, 2002; Berring, 2006; Blackmore, 1999; Bloom, 2005; Boyer, 2001, 2008; Burkert, 1960; Dawkins, 2006; Dennett, 2006; Durkheim, 1912/1995; Hinde, 1999; Sloan-Wilson, 2002). However, despite early interest in the topic (Allport, 1950; G. S. Hall, 1917; James, 1902; Leuba, 1925; Skinner, 1953; Starbuck, 1899), an increasing presence (Emmons & Palouzian, 2003; Exline, 2002; Kirkpatrick, 2004; Smith, McCullough, & Poll, 2003), and calls to take the study of religion seriously (Baumeister, 2002; Emmons, 1999; Gorsuch, 1988), mainstream psychology has been conspicuously absent from the party. There are at least four reasons for this absenteeism. In classical psychoanalytic theory, religion was regarded as an expression of neurosis and a defense mechanism against anxiety (Freud, 1927/1961b, 1930/1961a). As such, religion was not deemed worthy of inclusion in major theories of personality (Koltko-Rivera, 2006). Also, academic psychology (unlike most other disciplines) has assigned high prestige to the study of processes or mental entities (e.g., perception, learning, memory) and has denigrated the study of life domains (e.g., sex, food, work; Rozin, 2006). Religion qualifies as a life domain rather than a process and has thus been frowned on, if not shunned from inquiry, by the discipline in general and by leading psychology academic departments in particular. Moreover, academics are largely nonreligious, a pattern anticipated by the negative correlation between education and religiosity (Glaeser & Sacerdote, 2008). Being exposed to like-minded colleagues, academics may form the false impression that religion is a rather rare and marginal phenomenon (Stark & Bainbridge, 1985). The final reason smacks of a minor conspiracy theory. Academics may have perceived religiosity as a private matter, one that defines people with strong and passionate feelings either in favor of or against it. Thus, the majority of academics may have left
TL;DR: This review presents a series of recent studies that demonstrate the local dominance effect and offers two primary explanations for the effect and considers alternatives including social categorization and the abstract versus concrete nature of local versus general comparisons.
Abstract: The local dominance effect is the tendency for comparisons with a few, discrete individuals to have a greater influence on self-assessments than comparisons with larger aggregates. This review presents a series of recent studies that demonstrate the local dominance effect. The authors offer two primary explanations for the effect and consider alternatives including social categorization and the abstract versus concrete nature of local versus general comparisons. They then discuss moderators of the effect including physical proximity and self-enhancement. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of the effect are discussed and potential future directions in this research line are proposed.
TL;DR: Evidence is presented that new measures of assumed similarity and self-other agreement using the Social Relations Model seem to be relatively independent of the moderators.
Abstract: The authors examined the consistency of person perception in two domains: agreement (i.e., do two raters of the same person agree?) and similarity (i.e., does a perceiver view two persons as similar to one another?). In each domain, they compared self-judgments with judgments not involving the self (i.e., self-other agreement vs. consensus, in the case of agreement, and assumed similarity vs. assimilation, in the case of similarity). In a meta-analysis of 24 studies, they examined the effects of several moderating variables on each type of judgment. In general, moderators exerted similar effects irrespective of whether judgments of the self were involved. Group size did have stronger effects on self-other agreement and assumed similarity than on consensus and assimilation. The authors also present evidence that new measures of assumed similarity and self-other agreement using the Social Relations Model seem to be relatively independent of the moderators.
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of previous studies involving birth order and participation in dangerous sports indicated that older and younger brothers excelled in different aspects of the game, including two measures associated with risk taking.
Abstract: According to expectations derived from evolutionary theory, younger siblings are more likely than older siblings to participate in high-risk activities. The authors test this hypothesis by conducting a meta-analysis of 24 previous studies involving birth order and participation in dangerous sports. The odds of laterborns engaging in such activities were 1.48 times greater than for firstborns (N = 8,340). The authors also analyze performance data on 700 brothers who played major league baseball. Consistent with their greater expected propensity for risk taking, younger brothers were 10.6 times more likely to attempt the high-risk activity of base stealing and 3.2 times more likely to steal bases successfully (odds ratios). In addition, younger brothers were significantly superior to older brothers in overall batting success, including two measures associated with risk taking. As expected, significant heterogeneity among various performance measures for major league baseball players indicated that older and younger brothers excelled in different aspects of the game.
TL;DR: The authors offer a novel opponent process model of motivation that integrates the apparently exclusive processes of prejudice and helping into a single system and suggests that the personality dimension of agreeableness is systematically related to both prejudice and help.
Abstract: Examined at the behavioral level, prejudice and helping appear as qualitatively different and perhaps mutually incompatible social behaviors. As a result, the literatures on prejudice and helping evolved largely independent of each other. When they are examined at the process level, however, underlying similarities appear. Furthermore, when anomalies are examined within each of these two separate literatures, similarities become more apparent. Finally, the personality dimension of agreeableness is systematically related to both prejudice and helping. The authors propose that many forms of prejudice and helping are expressions of underlying processes of self-regulation and social accommodation. After discussing several other social-cognitive approaches to self-correction, the authors offer a novel opponent process model of motivation that integrates the apparently exclusive processes of prejudice and helping into a single system.
TL;DR: It is concluded that one cannot safely generalize results obtained from step-level to continuous-form games (or vice versa), and specific characteristics of the payoff function in public goods games that conceptually mark the transition from a pure dilemma to a coordination problem nested within a dilemma are identified.
Abstract: Conflicts between individual and collective interests are ubiquitous in social life Experimental studies have investigated the resolution of such conflicts using public goods games with either continuous or step-level payoff functions Game theory and social interdependence theory identify consequential differences between these two types of games Continuous function games are prime examples of social dilemmas because they always contain a conflict between individual and collective interests, whereas step-level games can be construed as social coordination games Step-level games often provide opportunities for coordinated solutions that benefit both the collective and the individuals For this and other reasons, the authors conclude that one cannot safely generalize results obtained from step-level to continuous-form games (or vice versa) Finally, the authors identify specific characteristics of the payoff function in public goods games that conceptually mark the transition from a pure dilemma to a co