Asian Journal of Social Psychology最新文献

Face culture is a crucial facet of East Asia. The most common self-report measure for face concern is the unidimensional Loss of Face Scale. In this study, we examined the dimensionality, factor structure, and validity of the Loss of Face Scale in two samples. Sample 1 (N = 602) consisted of 303 Taiwanese mothers and 299 U.S. mothers. Sample 2 (N = 602) was an independent sample from Sample 1, consisting of 294 Taiwanese mothers and 308 U.S. mothers. We proposed a modified 15-item four-dimensional factor structure to better capture the complexity of face. Four sub-domains emerged from the results of exploratory structural equation modelling: Low-Profile, Over-Preparation, Harmony Seeking, and Non-Aggression. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis indicated configural and metric invariance but failed to establish full scalar invariance across countries. Convergent validity was supported by positive correlations with other Asian cultural values. While all four domains of face showed small to moderate correlations with depression in the U.S., only Low-Profile was associated with depression in Taiwan, suggesting that not all aspects of face concern are non-adaptive in East Asian contexts. Future studies should consider the multidimensional nature of face as well as how different dimensions affect mental and social well-being across cultures.

Low consumer acceptance emerges as one important barrier to the introduction of cultivated meat, a novel food which offers an opportunity for more sustainable and ethical meat production. Due to the motives for impression management and self-esteem, one factor that could contribute to people's acceptance of cultivated meat is their perceptions of other individuals who consume cultivated meat. In the current research, two online survey studies with 393 Singaporean undergraduate students and 401 American adults were conducted to explore the perceptions of cultivated meat eaters. In both studies, participants were randomly assigned to read one of three profiles that described a cultivated meat eater, a conventional meat eater, and a vegetarian. Then they rated the target on a list of traits. In Study 1, cultivated meat eaters were evaluated as more eco-friendly than conventional meat eaters, and less pure than vegetarians. In Study 2, cultivated meat eaters were perceived as more eco-friendly than conventional meat eaters, and less healthy than vegetarians; further, the participants tended to believe that others' general perception of cultivated meat eaters is slightly negative, and their belief about others' perception was strongly correlated with their acceptance of cultivated meat. Practical implications and future directions were discussed.

Are attributions of motives for prosocial behaviour modulated by the actor's wealth? We provide evidence for people attributing higher reputational motives to rich prosocial actors than poor ones across four studies. This effect persists across different kinds of prosocial behaviours, including helping (Study 1), volunteering (Study 2), and donating money (Studies 3–4). Furthermore, rich (vs. poor) prosocial actors are perceived to be less likely to be driven by altruistic motives and to have lower moral character than poor actors (Studies 2–3). Attribution of reputational motives and altruistic motives mediates the effect of target wealth on the perception of moral character (Study 2–3). Study 4 demonstrates that the judgement gap disappears when reputational benefits are implausible: voluntary privacy eliminates the wealth-based gap in motive attributions and judgement of moral character. These findings highlight that suspicion of motives prevents people from giving credit to rich prosocial actors. The implications for understanding motive inferences and prosocial credit are also discussed.

Research on the backlash effect predominantly investigated penalties men and women incurred when they violate gender norms in the domain of achievement-oriented aggressiveness. We investigated backlash reactions towards female versus male leaders' attempts to manage follower emotions using one of two gender-stereotypic interpersonal emotion management strategies, cognitive change or expression suppression, in a 2×2 vignette experiment in which undergraduate students as participants acted as followers (N = 206). We hypothesized that followers high in explicit or implicit prejudice towards female leadership would be motivated to show backlash in the form of negative attitudes and anger when female leaders use an expression suppression strategy and when male leaders use a cognitive change strategy, violating gender norms. We also explored the role of followers' gender as a boundary condition of backlash reactions towards leaders of the same versus opposite sex. Male participants with negative explicit attitudes towards women leaders in general expressed higher levels of anger towards a female leader who utilized a suppression strategy. Female participants holding implicit stereotypes reported negative attitudes for both female and male leaders who utilized a gender-incongruent emotion management strategy. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and research on the backlash effect.

Prior research recognizes intergroup emotions as crucial for intergroup attitudes and interactions, but the psychological mechanisms linking prior intergroup interactions to contact intentions remain incompletely understood. This study investigated the joint effects and interplay of Chinese students' positive and negative contact on behavioural intentions to interact with international students in the future. Six affective variables (fear, anger, anxiety, empathy, happiness, and trust) were tested as mediators. Results revealed that positive contact directly predicted stronger contact willingness and indirectly affected this variable through lower levels of fear, anger, and anxiety and higher levels of empathy, happiness, and trust. Negative contact, however, was negatively associated with positive emotions and contact willingness and predicted more negative emotions. All intergroup emotions played significant mediating roles in the relationship between intergroup contact and willingness for future contact, and anxiety, fear, and trust emerged as robust mediators. Notably, positive contact had larger effects as compared to negative contact. Moreover, no association was observed between negative contact and intergroup emotions when positive contact was frequent. However, when both positive and negative contact were at higher levels, positive contact emerged as a more influential predictor of all intergroup emotions. This research emphasizes examining both positive and negative contact and affective variables as contact mediators, shedding light on enhancing contact intentions.

Breaking infection chains requires not just behaviours that allow individuals to stay healthy and uninfected (i.e. health protective behaviours) but also for those who are possibly infected to protect others from their harboured infection risk (i.e. socially responsible behaviours). However, socially responsible behaviours entail costs without clear, immediate benefits to the individual, such that public health-risking lapses occur from time to time. In this important yet understudied area, the current exploratory study sought to identify possible psychological factors that may affect people's likelihood of engaging in socially responsible behaviours. Assuming that self-perceived infection should provide an impetus to engage in socially responsible behaviours, we contend that lapses could occur in two scenarios: discounting of possible infection or prioritizing self-interest over collective good. Through a vignette portraying COVID-19 relevant symptoms presented to culturally diverse participants (Singapore and United States; N = 645), we found dispositional denialism (an ego defence mechanism) to exert a negative indirect effect on likelihood of engaging in socially responsible behaviours through its negative association with perceived infection status. Further, social value orientation and cultural orientation appeared to significantly moderate the positive association between perceived infection status and the likelihood of engaging in socially responsible behaviours, such that the positive association held only when individuals espouse both a prosocial value orientation and a collectivistic cultural orientation. Further analyses also point toward a possible attenuation of this positive association when individuals espouse a vertical cultural orientation. Future directions and implications for public health management are discussed.