Showing papers in "Social Psychological and Personality Science in 2015"
TL;DR: The authors empirically tested whether extreme political ideologies, at either side of the political spectrum, are positively associated with an increased tendency to believe in conspiracy theories and found that participants' belief in simple political solutions to societal problems mediated conspiracy beliefs among both left and right-wing extremists.
Abstract: Historical records suggest that the political extremes—at both the “left” and the “right”—substantially endorsed conspiracy beliefs about other-minded groups. The present contribution empirically tests whether extreme political ideologies, at either side of the political spectrum, are positively associated with an increased tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. Four studies conducted in the United States and the Netherlands revealed a quadratic relationship between strength of political ideology and conspiracy beliefs about various political issues. Moreover, participants’ belief in simple political solutions to societal problems mediated conspiracy beliefs among both left- and right-wing extremists. Finally, the effects described here were not attributable to general attitude extremity. Our conclusion is that political extremism and conspiracy beliefs are strongly associated due to a highly structured thinking style that is aimed at making sense of societal events.
314 citations
TL;DR: In an ongoing effort to identify predictors of educational success and achievement, grit has emerged as a seemingly useful disposition as discussed by the authors, defined as the combination of perseverance of effor...
Abstract: In an ongoing effort to identify predictors of educational success and achievement, grit has emerged as a seemingly useful disposition. Grit is conceived as the combination of perseverance of effor...
214 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focused on the impact of mindfulness on peoples' lives in a number of ways, including relying less on previously established associations, and found that mindfulness can positively affect people's lives.
Abstract: Research has shown that mindfulness can positively affect peoples’ lives in a number of ways, including relying less on previously established associations. We focused on the impact of mindfulness ...
186 citations
TL;DR: The authors suggest that Whites' declining share of the U.S. population threatens their status as the most prototypical ethnic group in America and that this prototypicality threat should lead to growing resistance toward diversity, motivated by the desire to reassert Whites' standing as prototypical Americans.
Abstract: We suggest that Whites’ declining share of the U.S. population threatens their status as the most prototypical ethnic group in America. This prototypicality threat should lead to growing resistance toward diversity, motivated by the desire to reassert Whites’ standing as prototypical Americans. In Study 1, how dramatically Whites perceived their share of the population to decline predicted support for cultural assimilation, mediated by prototypicality threat (controlling for realistic and symbolic threat). This relationship held only among Whites who felt that ethnic groups differ in their prototypicality, not among those who saw all groups representing America equally. Study 2 experimentally manipulated exposure to demographic projections such that Whites who saw their group shrinking showed weaker diversity endorsement relative to those who believed their share to be stable, again mediated by prototypicality threat. These findings reveal Whites’ threatened prototypicality as a novel, emerging source of ...
161 citations
TL;DR: This article provided the first systematic empirical investigation into superhumanization, the attribution of supernatural, extrasensory, and magical mental and physical qualities to humans, and five studies test and support the hypothesis that White Americans superhumanize Black people relative to White people.
Abstract: The present research provides the first systematic empirical investigation into superhumanization, the attribution of supernatural, extrasensory, and magical mental and physical qualities to humans. Five studies test and support the hypothesis that White Americans superhumanize Black people relative to White people. Studies 1–2b demonstrate this phenomenon at an implicit level, showing that Whites preferentially associate Blacks versus Whites with superhuman versus human words on an implicit association test and on a categorization task. Studies 3–4 demonstrate this phenomenon at an explicit level, showing that Whites preferentially attribute superhuman capacities to Blacks versus Whites, and Study 4 specifically shows that superhumanization of Blacks predicts denial of pain to Black versus White targets. Together, these studies demonstrate a novel and potentially detrimental process through which Whites perceive Blacks.
115 citations
TL;DR: For example, the authors found that personality traits are associated with the risk of developing disease, most notably the traits of conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness, and used logistic regression to predict new disease diagnosis.
Abstract: While personality traits have been linked concurrently to health status and prospectively to outcomes such as mortality, it is currently unknown whether traits predict the diagnosis of a number of specific diseases (e.g., lung disease, heart disease, and stroke) that may account for their mortality effects more generally. A sample (N = 6,904) of participants from the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal study of older adults, completed personality measures and reported on current health conditions. Four years later, participants were followed up to see if they developed a new disease. Initial cross-sectional analyses replicated past findings that personality traits differ across disease groups. Longitudinal logistic regression analyses predicting new disease diagnosis suggest that traits are associated with the risk of developing disease—most notably the traits of conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. Findings are discussed as a means to identify pathways between personality and health.
109 citations
TL;DR: In this article, moral psychologists have used scenarios of abuse and murder to operationalize harm and chicken-masturbation and dog-eating to operationalise impurity to reveal different patterns of m...
Abstract: Moral psychologists have used scenarios of abuse and murder to operationalize harm and chicken-masturbation and dog-eating to operationalize impurity. These scenarios reveal different patterns of m...
102 citations
TL;DR: For example, this article found that people with stronger social identities were less likely to attribute negative events to internal, stable, or global causes and subsequently reported lower levels of depression, and that social identities can protect and enhance mental health by facilitating positive interpretations of stress and failure.
Abstract: Social identities are generally associated with better health and in particular lower levels of depression. However, there has been limited investigation of why social identities protect against depression. The current research suggests that social identities reduce depression in part because they attenuate the depressive attribution style (internal, stable, and global; e.g., “I failed because I’m stupid”). These relationships are first investigated in a survey (Study 1, N = 139) and then followed up in an experiment that manipulates social identity salience (Study 2, N = 88). In both cases, people with stronger social identities were less likely to attribute negative events to internal, stable, or global causes and subsequently reported lower levels of depression. These studies thus indicate that social identities can protect and enhance mental health by facilitating positive interpretations of stress and failure. Implications for clinical theory and practice are discussed.
91 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that efforts to promote women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) require a clearer understanding of the experience of social identity threat outside academic contexts.
Abstract: Efforts to promote women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) require a clearer understanding of the experience of social identity threat outside academic contexts. Although social ...
79 citations
TL;DR: Mindfulness and flow are both beneficial states of mind, but are they difficult to experience simultaneously? After all, flow involves losing self-awareness within an activity, and mindfulness invo...
Abstract: Mindfulness and flow are both beneficial states of mind, but are they difficult to experience simultaneously? After all, flow involves losing self-awareness within an activity, and mindfulness invo...
73 citations
TL;DR: For instance, this article found that older versus younger adults showed higher interpersonal trust and higher trust predicted higher well-being, especially for older adults, in a cross-sectional study of 197,888 individuals from 83 countries assessed between 1981 and 2007.
Abstract: Across the globe, populations are aging, which presents an unprecedented challenge to individual and societal well-being. We seek to (a) replicate and extend previous work on age-related differences in interpersonal trust and (b) examine associations between trust and well-being across the adult life span. Study 1, a cross-sectional study of 197,888 individuals (aged 14–99) from 83 countries assessed between 1981 and 2007, showed that (a) older versus younger adults showed higher interpersonal trust and (b) higher trust predicted higher well-being, especially for older adults. Study 2, a nationally representative three-wave cohort-sequential longitudinal study (spanning 4 years) of 1,230 individuals in the United States (aged 18–89), showed that (a) interpersonal trust increased longitudinally across age groups and (b) higher trust predicted increases in well-being longitudinally and vice versa. These findings suggest that interpersonal trust may be an important resource for successful development across ...
TL;DR: This paper found that higher income is associated with experiencing less daily sadness, but has no bearing on daily happiness, while happiness and sadness are distinct emotional states, rather than diametric opposites, and past research points to the possibility that wealth may have a greater impact on sadness than happiness.
Abstract: Although extensive previous research has explored the relationship between income and happiness, no large-scale research has ever examined the relationship between income and sadness. Yet, happiness and sadness are distinct emotional states, rather than diametric opposites, and past research points to the possibility that wealth may have a greater impact on sadness than happiness. Using data from a diverse cross section of the U.S. population (N = 12,291), we show that higher income is associated with experiencing less daily sadness, but has no bearing on daily happiness. This pattern of findings could not be explained by relevant demographics, stress, and people’s daily time use. Although causality cannot be inferred from this correlational data set, the present findings point to the possibility that money may be a more effective tool for reducing sadness than enhancing happiness.
TL;DR: The industrialized world is becoming more ethnically diverse and exposure to racial out-groups may be associated with more positive and more negative as mentioned in this paper, which is not necessarily a good thing.
Abstract: The industrialized world is becoming more ethnically diverse. Research in several disciplines has suggested that exposure to racial out-groups may be associated with more positive and more negative...
TL;DR: An inverted U-shaped pattern between optimism and age is found both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, such that optimism generally increased in older adults before decreasing.
Abstract: Little is known about how optimism differs by age and changes over time, particularly among older adults. Even less is known about how changes in optimism are related to changes in physical health. We examined age differences and longitudinal changes in optimism in 9,790 older adults over a four-year period. We found an inverted U-shaped pattern between optimism and age both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, such that optimism generally increased in older adults before decreasing. Increases in optimism over a four-year period were associated with improvements in self-rated health and fewer chronic illnesses over the same time frame. The findings from the current study are consistent with changes in emotion regulation strategies employed by older adults and age-related changes in well-being.
TL;DR: In this paper, the association between religiosity and health and longevity was explored in the United States, and it was found that religiosity contributes to better health and longer life span.
Abstract: Existing research, mostly based on the data from the United States, suggests that religiosity contributes to better health and longevity. This article explores the association between religiosity a...
TL;DR: Older adults in both goal conditions demonstrated pro-hedonic emotion regulation, spending less time with negative material compared to younger adults, and age differences in use of early stage emotion regulation are supported.
Abstract: This research investigated age differences in use and effectiveness of situation selection and situation modification for emotion regulation. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests stronger emotional well-being goals in older age; emotion regulation may support this goal. Younger and older adults assigned to an emotion regulation or "just view" condition first freely chose to engage with negative, neutral, or positive material (situation selection), then chose to view or skip negative and positive material (situation modification), rating affect after each experience. In both tasks, older adults in both goal conditions demonstrated pro-hedonic emotion regulation, spending less time with negative material compared to younger adults. Younger adults in the regulate condition also engaged in pro-hedonic situation selection, but not modification. Whereas situation selection was related to affect, modification of negative material was not. This research supports more frequent pro-hedonic motivation in older age, as well as age differences in use of early-stage emotion regulation.
TL;DR: The authors found that regardless of one's personal level of status and power, simply believing that social inequality is natural and morally acceptable (e.g., endorsing social dominance orientation, or SDO) would be negatively associated with empathic accuracy.
Abstract: Recent research has explored the relationship between social hierarchy and empathic accuracy—the ability to accurately infer other people’s mental states. In the current research, we tested the hypothesis that, regardless of one’s personal level of status and power, simply believing that social inequality is natural and morally acceptable (e.g., endorsing social dominance orientation, or SDO) would be negatively associated with empathic accuracy. In a sample of managers, a group for whom empathic accuracy is a valuable skill, empathic accuracy was lower for managers who possessed structural power and also for managers who endorsed social dominance, regardless of their structural power. Moreover, men were less empathically accurate than women, a relationship that may be explained by men’s higher SDO and greater structural power. These findings suggest that for empathic abilities, it matters just as much what you think about social hierarchies as it does where you stand within them.
TL;DR: This article found that participants engaged in a challenging blindness simulation and afterward judged blind people as less capable of work and independent living than did participants after simulating a different impairment, no impairment, or after merely watching someone else simulate blindness.
Abstract: Simulating other people’s difficulties often improves attitudes toward those people. In the case of physical disabilities, however, such experience simulations can backfire. By highlighting the initial challenges of becoming disabled, experience simulations decrease the perceived adaptability of being disabled and reduce the judged capabilities of disabled people. In two experiments, participants engaged in a challenging blindness simulation and afterward judged blind people as less capable of work and independent living than did participants after simulating a different impairment (Experiment 1), no impairment (Experiments 1 and 2), or after merely watching someone else simulate blindness (Experiment 2). Blindness simulators forecast that they would be less capable themselves if blind and that they would adapt to blindness more slowly (Experiment 2), highlighting the self-centered nature of judged capabilities of disabled people. The findings demonstrate that experience simulation can sometimes harm rath...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors applied propensity score matching to a sample of initially inexperienced singles and followed them across four years, finding that the first partnership experience relatively robust increased life satisfaction.
Abstract: Personality development in young adulthood has been associated with the experience of a number of new social roles. However, the causal interpretation of these findings is complicated by the fact that it is not possible to randomize young adults by their life experiences. To address this problem in the context of the first partnership experience, we applied propensity score matching to a sample of initially inexperienced singles and followed them across 4 years. Using matched samples, results indicated that the first partnership experience relatively robust increased life satisfaction. The first partnership experience between the ages of 23 and 25 (but not in other ages) was also related to higher self-esteem, extraversion, and conscientiousness and to lower neuroticism. The discussion highlights the effect of the first partnership on the development of a mature personality and the potential for propensity score matching to make useful contributions to social and personality research.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the role of narration in video games, by adapting concepts and methodology from video game research based on self-determination theory as well as past research on the effects of literary fiction.
Abstract: Past research on video game effects was often limited to explaining effects of game content and mode, leaving structural and contextual game elements scarcely investigated. The present research examined the yet unclear role of narration in video games, by adapting concepts and methodology from video game research based on self-determination theory as well as past research on the effects of literary fiction. Results provided evidence for the facilitation of immersion and an immersion-mediated enhancement of autonomy and relatedness need satisfaction through in-game storytelling, suggesting a mutual enhancement of immersion and need satisfaction. Moreover, in-game storytelling enhanced affective theory of mind. Perspectives on future research, connecting in-game storytelling and game content to complement current knowledge of video game effects on various real-world outcomes, are discussed.
TL;DR: This article found that wearing more formal clothing was associated with higher action identification level and greater category inclusiveness and enhanced a global processing advantage, and the association between clothing formality and abstract processing was mediated by felt power.
Abstract: Drawing from literature on construal-level theory and the psychological consequences of clothing, the current work tested whether wearing formal clothing enhances abstract cognitive processing. Five studies provided evidence supporting this hypothesis. Wearing more formal clothing was associated with higher action identification level (Study 1) and greater category inclusiveness (Study 2). Putting on formal clothing induced greater category inclusiveness (Study 3) and enhanced a global processing advantage (Study 4). The association between clothing formality and abstract processing was mediated by felt power (Study 5). The findings demonstrate that the nature of an everyday and ecologically valid experience, the clothing worn, influences cognition broadly, impacting the processing style that changes how objects, people, and events are construed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors demonstrate that people high in sexual communal strength (i.e., those motivated to meet a romantic partner's sexual needs) have partners who are more satisfied with and committed to their relationships.
Abstract: In two dyadic studies (a short-term longitudinal study and a daily experience study), we demonstrate that people high in sexual communal strength (i.e., those motivated to meet a romantic partner’s sexual needs) have partners who are more satisfied with and committed to their relationships. In Study 1, people higher in sexual communal strength had partners who felt more satisfied and committed to the relationship both at that time and 3 weeks later. In Study 2, the partners of people high in sexual communal strength perceived their partners as more responsive to their needs during sex, and this was one reason why they reported feeling more satisfied and committed in the relationship. Implications for theories of communal motivation and approaches to sexuality in romantic relationships are discussed.
TL;DR: This article found that stereotypes about Christians being less competent in science than other groups are recognized by both Christians and non-Christians and are openly endorsed by nonChristians, and when these stereotypes become salient, Christians are less interested in and identified with science and underperform on science-relevant tasks.
Abstract: Despite Christians being a religious majority in the United States, relatively few pursue higher education and careers in science. Our studies show that stereotypes about Christians being less competent in science than other groups are recognized by both Christians and non-Christians and are openly endorsed by non-Christians (Study 1). Our studies further demonstrate that when these stereotypes become salient, Christians are less interested in and identified with science (Study 2) and underperform on science-relevant tasks (Studies 3–5), compared to non-Christians. Even subtle contextual cues that bear more or less relevance to science are sufficient to compromise Christians’ scientific task performance, particularly among the highly religious (Study 5). When these stereotypes are explicitly removed, however, performance differences between Christians and non-Christians disappear. These results suggest that Christians’ awareness of the negative societal stereotypes about their group’s scientific competenc...
TL;DR: Forgiveness is a meaning-making mechanism because it helps repair relationships, thus restoring the positive effects of relationships on meaning as mentioned in this paper, and it can restore lost meaning among those who reported more frequent partner offenses.
Abstract: Close relationships are a source of meaning in life Interpersonal offenses can disrupt one’s sense of meaning within close relationships To restore a sense of meaning, people may employ relational repair strategies such as forgiveness We hypothesized that forgiveness is a meaning-making mechanism because it helps repair relationships, thus restoring the positive effects of relationships on meaning Study 1 (N = 491) revealed that dispositional forgiveness and the degree of forgiveness following an offense were positively related to meaning in life Study 2 (N = 210), a 6-month longitudinal study of romantic couples, revealed that participants who regularly forgave their partner reported increased meaning in life over time In addition, forgiveness helped recover lost meaning among those participants reporting more frequent partner offenses These results provide initial evidence that forgiveness recovers a sense of meaning in life after interpersonal offenses
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed that gossip promotes cooperation when one anticipates future interdependence with the gossip recipi cies, which is a key mechanism for promoting cooperation.
Abstract: Reputation through gossip is a key mechanism promoting cooperation. The present research proposes that gossip promotes cooperation when one anticipates future interdependence with the gossip recipi...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that it is better to have a few relationships that can fulfill all our emotion-regulation needs or have a more diverse relationship portfolio, in which different individuals serve distinct emotion-re...
Abstract: Is it better to have a few relationships that can fulfill all our emotion-regulation needs or to have a more diverse relationship portfolio, in which different individuals serve distinct emotion-re...
TL;DR: This article found that people are generally motivated to increase the diversity of their self-concepts, within their relationships and outside of them, and that self-expansion enhances both individual and relationship well-being.
Abstract: People are generally motivated to increase the diversity of their self-concepts, within their relationships and outside of them. Self-expansion enhances both individual and relationship well-being;...
TL;DR: The authors used archival data to examine how White, Black, and biracial Black/White individuals respond to implicit attitude feedback suggesting that they harbor racial bias that does not align with their self-reported attitudes.
Abstract: This study used archival data to examine how White, Black, and biracial Black/White people respond to implicit attitude feedback suggesting that they harbor racial bias that does not align with their self-reported attitudes. The results suggested that people are generally defensive in response to feedback indicating that their implicit attitudes differ from their explicit attitudes. Among monoracial White and Black individuals, this effect was particularly strong when they learned that they were implicitly more pro-White than they indicated explicitly. By contrast, biracial Black/White individuals were defensive about large discrepancies in either direction (more pro-Black or more pro-White implicit attitudes). These results pinpoint one distinct difference between monoracial and biracial populations and pave the way for future research to further explore how monoracial majority, minority, and biracial populations compare in other types of attitudes and responses to personal feedback.
TL;DR: For instance, this article argued that underpowered research benefits researchers individually (increased productivity) by increasing the number of researchers who could benefit from underpowered work (e.g., from increased productivity).
Abstract: If psychologists have recognized the pitfalls of underpowered research for decades, why does it persist? Incentives, perhaps: underpowered research benefits researchers individually (increased prod...
TL;DR: Individual differences in morality and honesty are inherently connected such that individuals more likely to engage in immoral behavior will typically be less likely to admit to it as discussed by the authors, and this is the case for all individuals.
Abstract: Individual differences in morality and honesty are inherently connected such that individuals more likely to engage in immoral behavior will typically be less likely to admit to it. Indeed, this is...