{"title":"What makes us “we”? The positivity bias in essentialist beliefs about group attributes","authors":"Kaiyuan Chen, Michael A. Hogg","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104581","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Psychological essentialism refers to the tendency to view entities as having enduring properties that make them what they are (i.e., essences). Emerging research suggests people possess a positivity bias in essentialism (PBE), a preference to view positively (vs. negatively) evaluated attributes as the essences of an entity. Four experiments (total <em>N</em> = 1020) tested group attributes' association (ingroup vs. outgroup) as a boundary condition of PBE. We expected PBE to be stronger for ingroup than for outgroup and this difference to be accentuated by (a) identity centrality and (b) self-uncertainty. In Studies 1–3, we asked participants to generate one positive attribute and one negative attribute for ingroup and outgroup respectively and measured PBE. PBE was found to be stronger for ingroup attributes and was even reversed for outgroup attributes. Identity centrality, but not self-uncertainty, accentuated this effect. In the pre-registered Study 4, we asked participants to generate as many attributes as possible and replicated the main findings. Moreover, we found differences in PBE, along with intergroup affect, prospectively accounted for intergroup cooperative intentions. The findings suggest that essentialist beliefs about attributes are constrained by collective self-enhancement and have unique implications in intergroup contexts.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104581"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138678275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Feeling known predicts relationship satisfaction","authors":"Juliana Schroeder , Ayelet Fishbach","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104559","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Two forms of subjective relationship knowledge—the belief that one is known and knows one's partner—have separately been shown to positively predict relationship satisfaction, but which is more important for relational wellbeing? Seven studies show that believing one <em>is known</em> by their partner (i.e., “feeling known”) predicts relationship satisfaction more than believing that one <em>knows</em> their partner (i.e., “felt knowing”). In Studies 1a-c, feeling known predicted relationship satisfaction more than felt knowing among family, romantic partners, and friends. Feeling known also causally influenced expected relationship satisfaction more than felt knowing in Studies 2a-b. Study 3 suggests a potential reason why feeling known is more closely associated with relationship satisfaction – because people value receiving support in their relationships. Finally, the desire to feel known may lead people to “undersell” themselves to potential partners. In Study 4, when people wrote dating profiles to attract potential romantic partners, they more strongly expressed their desire to be known than to know their potential future partner. Yet, readers of these profiles were more attracted to those who professed interest in knowing them. Overall, this research suggests that feeling known is an important ingredient in the recipe for relationship joy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104559"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103123001166/pdfft?md5=850737c8a451c894402b488fec5ec673&pid=1-s2.0-S0022103123001166-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138557852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shuxian Jin , Simon Columbus , Paul A.M. van Lange , Daniel Balliet
{"title":"Conflict, cooperation, and institutional choice","authors":"Shuxian Jin , Simon Columbus , Paul A.M. van Lange , Daniel Balliet","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104566","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104566","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Social situations may vary in the severity of conflict between self-interest and collective welfare, and thereby pose collective action problems that might require different institutional solutions. The present study examines the effect of conflict of interests on beliefs, norms, cooperation, and choice of sanctioning institutions in social dilemmas across two experiments (total <em>N</em> = 1304). In each experiment, participants interacted in a public goods game (PGG), and a modified PGG with institutional choice using a 2 (conflict of interests: <em>low</em> vs. <em>high</em>) × 3 (institutional choice: <em>peer punishment/no sanction</em> vs. <em>centralized punishment/no sanction</em> vs. <em>gossip plus ostracism/no sanction</em>) between-participants design. More severe conflict of interests reduces individuals' own cooperation, first-order beliefs about others' cooperation, second-order normative expectations and personal norms of cooperation. This pattern is pronounced over time in repeated interactions. We did not find that conflict of interests influenced the choice to establish a sanctioning institution. Taken together, the challenges arising from stronger conflicting interests can cause the collapse of cooperation, hinder the emergence of trust and norms of cooperation, but do not provide the impetus to support a sanctioning institution to promote cooperation. Implications for solving public goods dilemmas that contain a severe conflict of interests are discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104566"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103123001233/pdfft?md5=d16d33a8c98e243184d300299d27bf4d&pid=1-s2.0-S0022103123001233-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138491847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Coral M. Coutts, Christopher A. Longmore, Mila Mileva
{"title":"Facial first impressions following a prison sentence: Negative shift in trait ratings but the same underlying structure","authors":"Coral M. Coutts, Christopher A. Longmore, Mila Mileva","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104568","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104568","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The first impressions we form of unfamiliar others can often guide many important decisions such as whether someone is guilty of a crime or the severity of their sentence, even in the presence of more relevant information. While most of the current work in this context has focused on their impact during trial proceedings and sentencing, little is known about the potential impact of first impressions following a guilty sentence and the success of the subsequent reintegration into society. Here, we used a data-driven approach to address this question by first collecting unconstrained spontaneous impressions from two groups of perceivers – one group believed that the identities they were presented with had received a prison sentence, whereas the other received no additional semantic information (Study 1). This then allowed us to establish the most prevalent traits people refer to when describing their first impressions in this context and to reveal the underlying structure of these impressions using an Exploratory Factor Analysis (Study 2). We find a substantial negative shift in social evaluation following the knowledge of a prison sentence, both in terms of spontaneous descriptions and specific trait ratings. However, this additional contextual information did not affect the underlying structure of first impressions. These findings support social evaluation theories arguing for a more complex interplay between bottom-up visual and top-down semantic or contextual cues during the formation of facial first impressions but also reveal important constraints to the impact of such cues on the core impression formation processes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104568"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103123001257/pdfft?md5=21a513e9a8accb6cca2b57669a9d3cfd&pid=1-s2.0-S0022103123001257-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138484823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michael W. White , Emma E. Levine , Alexander C. Kristal
{"title":"Are rules meant to be broken? When and why consistent rule-following undermines versus enhances trust","authors":"Michael W. White , Emma E. Levine , Alexander C. Kristal","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104552","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104552","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Although consistency has long been positioned as a cornerstone of trust, the present paper examines when and why consistent rule-following undermines versus enhances trust. Across six preregistered experiments (total </span><em>N</em> = 2649), we study trust in decision-makers (e.g., police officers, managers) who either consistently punish offenders according to codified rules (e.g., laws, policies) or who exercise discretion by occasionally deviating from rules. We find that people are more likely to trust decision-makers that exercise discretion rather than consistently follow rules, to the extent that discretion signals benevolence. The degree to which discretion is perceived as benevolent, and therefore trustworthy, depends on what type of discretion is exercised, how the decision is reached, to whom discretion is applied, and the nature of the transgressions being punished. Specifically, people reward decision-makers who use discretion leniently (rather than punitively) and apply it thoughtfully (rather than arbitrarily). Moreover, only certain cases of punishment are deemed appropriate for discretion. When discretion is perceived to be motivated by favoritism because it is applied to close others, or when the basis for discretion is unclear because there is little variance in cases of the crime being punished, discretion fails to signal benevolence and elicit trust. This research has important implications for understanding trust, discretion, and the reputational consequences of punishment.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104552"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138472237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexander P. Landry , Katrina Fincher , Nathaniel Barr , Nicholaus P. Brosowsky , John Protzko , Dan Ariely , Paul Seli
{"title":"Harnessing dehumanization theory, modern media, and an intervention tournament to reduce support for retributive war crimes","authors":"Alexander P. Landry , Katrina Fincher , Nathaniel Barr , Nicholaus P. Brosowsky , John Protzko , Dan Ariely , Paul Seli","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104567","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104567","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We demonstrate how psychological scientists can curate rich-yet-accessible media to intervene on conflict-escalating attitudes during the earliest stages of violent conflicts. Although wartime atrocities all-too-often ignite destructive cycles of tit-for-tat war crimes, powerful third parties can de-escalate the bloodshed. Therefore, following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, we aimed to reduce Americans' support for committing retributive war crimes against Russian soldiers. To intervene during the earliest stages of the invasion, we drew on theories of dehumanization and “parasocial” intergroup contact to curate publicly available media expected to humanize Russian soldiers. We then identified the most effective materials by simultaneously evaluating all of them with an <em>intervention tournament</em>. This allowed us to quickly implement a psychological intervention that reliably reduced support for war crimes during the first days of a momentous land war. Our work provides a practical, result-driven model for developing psychological interventions with the potential to de-escalate incipient conflicts.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104567"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103123001245/pdfft?md5=05e44d6e2051667de4e90782e4c5844d&pid=1-s2.0-S0022103123001245-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138436463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Linh Vu , Catherine Molho , Ivan Soraperra , Susann Fiedler , Shaul Shalvi
{"title":"Giving (in) to help an identified person","authors":"Linh Vu , Catherine Molho , Ivan Soraperra , Susann Fiedler , Shaul Shalvi","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104557","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104557","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>People give more to a person in need when this person's identity is known. Such altruistic behaviors may arise from a genuine concern for the person, leading people to <em>give</em>. Alternatively, altruistic behavior may also arise from one's attempt to reduce the guilt of not giving, leading people to <em>give in</em>. Is the increased altruism towards an identified (vs. unidentified) charity recipient driven by a genuine concern for the person or by guilt? The current registered report addressed this question in two experiments (<em>N</em> = 3671), in which participants made allocation decisions in transparent vs. ambiguous settings with a predetermined (versus undetermined; Study 1) or an identified (versus unidentified; Study 2) child in need as the recipient. Consistent with our pre-registered hypothesis, results revealed that participants gave significantly less to undetermined/unidentified children in an ambiguous, compared with a transparent setting. However, in contrast to our predictions, predetermined/identified children did not receive more than undetermined/unidentified children in transparent settings in which they know how their choice impacts the children. Accordingly, the predicted interaction between identification and ambiguity was not significant. Exploratory analyses revealed that participants who willingly resolve the ambiguity surrounding the impact of their choice gave more compared to those who were given transparent information by default. The results suggest that some people give in when making their donation decisions, but the tendency to give in is independent of whether the recipient is identified or not.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 104557"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103123001142/pdfft?md5=25dd76c4ad8a490c5a0c3d3cbc06c6f2&pid=1-s2.0-S0022103123001142-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138413656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of ancestral information on social connectedness and life meaning","authors":"Tami Kim , Maura Austin , Luca Cian , Gabrielle Adams","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104563","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104563","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>With the rise of biotechnological tools such as ancestral information tests, individuals today are able to discover previously inaccessible information about themselves. Here, we explore how obtaining ancestral information—information about family history and lineage—affects people's sense of social connectedness<span> and perceived meaning in their lives. In addition, we investigate how ancestral information affects individuals' motivations to engage in self-care behaviors or behaviors that enhance their legacy. The primary goal of this research is to identify a novel antecedent of meaning in life—</span></span><em>past</em> rather than <em>present</em> social connections and to understand how receiving ancestral information affects future behavior and decisions. We randomly assigned individuals to receive information about (1) their ancestry, (2) others' ancestral information, or (3) their current social networks. From our data (<em>N</em> = 365), we did not find statistically significant differences among the three conditions on social connectedness and life meaning. Thus, the role of ancestral information in improving social connection and life meaning remains inconclusive. We discuss the implications of these results for future research on social connection and life meaning.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104563"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138423407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The effect of wearing college apparel on Black men's perceived criminality and perceived risk of being racially profiled by police","authors":"Gabriel Camacho","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104565","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104565","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The current research examines whether a prejudice reduction strategy used by Black college students—signaling a college affiliation—mitigates the perceived risk that a Black man will be seen as a criminal and racially profiled by police. Across four studies, college students of color (study 1: <em>N</em> = 160; study 2: <em>N</em> = 203) and Black and White people (study 3A: <em>N</em> = 205; study 3B: <em>N</em> = 394) perceived a Black man who displayed a college logo on his hoodie as significantly less likely to be seen as a criminal than when he did not. This remained true when the college logo was from a university that was objectively high in prestige (Princeton University; studies 1–2), moderate in prestige (John Jay College; study 2), or had no preexisting prestige (the fictional Pennbrook University; studies 3A and 3B). While college apparel did not consistently reduce the perceived risk that police would racially profile a Black man, an exploratory moderation analysis found that perceiving racial profiling as stemming more from individual than systemic bias lessened this perceived risk for Black but not White participants (study 3B). College apparel also indirectly predicted a lower likelihood of racial profiling through its effect on perceived criminality across all studies. Together, these results suggest that college apparel is believed to mitigate negative stereotypes associated with Black men; however, the perceived likelihood that police will racially profile a Black man is influenced by both his perceived criminality and lay theories of police bias.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104565"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138297680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Edward P. Lemay Jr , Hyunsun Park , Jessica Fernandez , Jennifer C. Marr
{"title":"The position that awaits: Implications of expected future status for performance, helping, motivation, and well-being at work","authors":"Edward P. Lemay Jr , Hyunsun Park , Jessica Fernandez , Jennifer C. Marr","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104560","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104560","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Social status shapes many important aspects of people's experiences at work. Guided by research and theory on prospection, the authors tested the predictions that a) expectations of future status predict important outcomes at work independently of current status; and b) expectations of future status are based on current status and partially explain effects of current status. Eight studies using a combination of survey, experimental, and intensive longitudinal methods supported these predictions. Across these studies, expectations of future status had unique effects relative to current status and partially explained the effects of current status on behavioral outcomes (i.e., task performance, organizational citizenship behavior), motivational and affective outcomes (i.e., work engagement, turnover intentions, and learning, performance, and helping motivation), and psychological well-being. Furthermore, several of these responses predicted changes in status over time, and they elicited status conferral by others, suggesting that expectations of future status may elicit responses that confirm those expectations. Status may be consequential for people's work lives, in part, because it shapes how people construe the future. Implications are discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 104560"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2023-11-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138289557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}