Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin最新文献

The current research examined implications of primal world beliefs-beliefs about the world's basic character-for the maintenance of satisfying and mutually responsive relationships. In a dyadic daily diary study of romantic couples with a 1-year follow-up (N = 236 couples and 6,411 days), those who saw the world as Good and Enticing were more satisfied with their relationships and responsive to their partners in everyday life, they had partners who were more satisfied and responsive, and they reported greater motivation for responsiveness over the year. These findings were corroborated by partner and informant reports of responsiveness, and they were mediated by approach relationship goals. Those who saw the world as Good and Enticing pursued rewarding experiences in their relationships, which predicted greater satisfaction and responsiveness of both partners. Results suggest that, by shaping goal pursuit, positive world beliefs may promote satisfying communal relationships that confirm those beliefs.

This research investigates whether racially dominant (White) and minoritized group members (Black) differentially evaluate intergroup harm in ambiguous (vs. overt) acts of cultural appropriation (the aversive racism hypothesis), due to attributions of positive intentions to the target (the intent as justification hypothesis). Four experiments (N = 1,020, 3 preregistered) and an internal meta-analysis converge to demonstrate that White perceivers evaluated less harm than Black perceivers in ambiguous acts of cultural appropriation. Attributions of positive intent served as a mechanism underlying this effect; naturally occurring variations in positive intent mediated the link between participant race and harm evaluations (Studies 2 and 3), and experimentally manipulating target intent altered harm evaluations as well as motivations for collective action (Study 4). Findings integrate work from multiple academic disciplines with insights from contemporary theories of prejudice to suggest that perceivers' attributions of positive intent can obscure their evaluations of harm in acts of cultural appropriation.

Is the certainty of saving a life today worth more than the less-certain possibility of saving 10 lives tomorrow? In six pre-registered studies with U.S. samples from Prolific (N = 5,095), we employed an intergenerational probability discounting task, discovering people discount the value of life as uncertainty and intergenerational distance from the present increase. Specifically, as uncertainty about impacting the future rises, individuals increasingly prioritize saving fewer present lives over more future lives, particularly for more distant future beneficiaries (Studies 1-2b). Experimental evidence (Studies 3a-4) suggests that certainty perceptions drive intergenerational concern, rather than the inverse. Drawing upon seminal research from cognitive science and behavioral economics, these findings address gaps in emerging social psychological inquiry into long-term intergenerational concern, shed light on mechanisms underlying debates on the ethical philosophy of longtermism, and highlight practical implications for decision-makers, stressing the need to increase certainty perceptions surrounding about pro-future actions to enhance intergenerational beneficence.

Increasing honesty is critical in modern society. Moral Disengagement Tactics (MDTs) enable individuals to engage in unethical behavior while avoiding self-criticism, making MDTs a form of self-persuasion. One way to prevent persuasion is inoculation. Across three experiments (N = 972), two preregistered, we randomly assigned individuals to a code of ethics versus inoculation to MDTs condition. Study 1 (n = 443) found that those high in narcissism reported increased ethical intentions in the inoculation condition. Study 2 (n = 224) replicated and extended this effect, finding that individuals high in narcissism were more likely to behave honestly in the inoculation condition. Study 3 (n = 305) was a longitudinal study finding that inoculating those high in narcissism led to fewer lies over the past week's inoculation. None of these interaction patterns emerged for Machiavellianism or psychopathy. Thus, inoculation to MDTs appears effective in reducing dishonesty among those high in narcissism.

Reputation is multidimensional, with some traits being more relevant than others in particular contexts. Can people selectively respond to reputational cues relevant to the task at hand? Across three studies, we examined how people weigh cues about helpfulness and competence when forming expectations about strangers' behavior. Using adapted investment games, we varied whether a stranger's helpfulness or competence predicted participants' future payoffs. We found that when helpfulness is task-relevant (Experiments 1 and 2), participants correctly use this cue in investment decisions. When competence matters most (Experiment 3), participants use it as the primary cue. Overall, a high reputation for outcome-irrelevant characteristics did not compensate for a low reputation for the outcome-relevant reputational cue. However, we also find an asymmetric spillover: Decision-makers prefer cooperating with others who are highly competent and highly helpful, regardless of task demands. We discuss our results within the theoretical framework of person perception and theories of reputation.

We investigate why individuals commonly perceive time as passing quickly when reflecting on past periods of their lives. A traditional cognitive account proposes that routine experienced during a period decreases the number of memorable events, making that period appear short in retrospect. A motivational account derived from self-determination theory proposes that a period remembered as lacking self-determined growth feels unsatisfying or wasted, and thus seems to pass quickly. Two exploratory studies (N = 999) did not consistently support these accounts, although in Study 2 remembered routine predicted faster perceived pace, as hypothesized. Contrary to our motivational account, remembered growth positively, rather than negatively, predicted pace. Interpreting this unexpected finding, we conducted two pre-registered studies (N = 965) exploring how satisfaction with, and nostalgic longing for, periods of growth contribute to the perception of time passing quickly. Our findings have implications for encouraging productive responses to the subjective pace of life.

How do individuals behave after the sting of social exclusion on social media? Previous theorizing predicts that, after experiencing exclusion, individuals either engage in activities that reconnect them with others, or, they withdraw from the context. We analyzed data from Twitter (k = 47,399 posts; N = 2,000 users) and Reddit (k = 58,442 posts; N = 2,000 users), using relative (un)popularity of users' own posts (i.e., receiving fewer Likes/upvotes than usual) as an indicator of social exclusion. Both studies found no general increase or decrease in posting latency following exclusion. However, the latency of behaviors aimed at connecting with many others decreased (i.e., posting again quickly), and the latency of behaviors aimed at connecting with specific others increased (i.e., commenting or mentioning others less quickly). Our findings speak in favor of acknowledgment-seeking behavior as a reaction to social exclusion that may be specific to social media contexts.

Understanding the factors that explain why some people are more likely to enlist in military service is an important endeavor for any nation that depends upon a voluntary military force. Three studies investigated the role of honor culture in military service. These studies assessed statewide differences in military enlistment rates (Study 1), individual differences in honor endorsement between military personnel and civilians (Study 2), and associations between honor endorsement and facets of military identification in a sample of active-duty Army personnel (Study 3). Results showed that honor was strongly and consistently associated with military service, independent of a wide range of potential confounds (e.g., economic precariousness, rurality, gender, age, and military rank). This research extends previous studies on the honor-military service link and has potentially important implications for military recruitment strategies and for our understanding of why military service might be a risk factor for subsequent mental health problems.

"Forbidden knowledge" claims are central to conspiracy theories, yet they have received little systematic study. Forbidden knowledge claims imply that information is censored or suppressed. Theoretically, forbidden knowledge could be alluring or alarming, depending on alignment with recipients' political worldviews. In three studies (N = 2363, two preregistered), we examined censorship claims about (conservative-aligned) controversial COVID-19 topics. In Studies 1a and 2 participants read COVID-19 claims framed as censored or not. Conservatives reported more attraction to and belief in the claims, regardless of censorship condition, while liberals showed decreased interest and belief when information was presented as censored. Study 1b revealed divergent interpretations of suppression motives: liberals assumed censored information was harmful or false, whereas conservatives deemed it valuable and true. In Study 2, conservatives made more critical thinking errors in a vaccine risk reasoning task when information was framed as censored. Findings reveal the polarizing effects of forbidden knowledge frames.

While loneliness may motivate individuals to approach others, it may simultaneously increase their focus on self-preservation, resulting in egocentric behavior. Since the evidence linking loneliness and prosociality is inconclusive, the current meta-analysis aims to explore this relationship. Through a systematic search of databases, we identified 35 studies involving 44,764 participants. A small effect size for a negative correlation between loneliness and prosociality (r = -0.12, 95% CI: [-0.19, -0.05]) was found using the random effects model. The effect was not moderated by participants' sociodemographic characteristics or the WEIRDness of the sample but differed between types of measurement and forms of prosocial behavior. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the processes perpetuating the link between loneliness and decreased prosociality, as this tendency may pose difficulties in restoring social connections, cooperating with others, or aiming for common goals.