Asian Journal of Social Psychology最新文献

Fear of happiness is the belief that happiness brings about negative consequences. In this research, we investigated the emotion regulation mechanism linking fear of happiness and personal and relational well-being. Studies 1 and 2 found that fear of happiness was consistently associated with lower levels of personal well-being (hedonic and eudaimonic) through increased dampening, and to some extent, reduced savouring of positive emotions across Singaporean undergraduate (Study 1; N = 227) and American online samples (Study 2; N = 222). In Study 3 with a Singaporean online sample (N = 125), we extended these findings to relational well-being in a context of particularly high relational stress—COVID-19 lockdown, highlighting the importance of emotional regulation of positive emotions. The findings across the three studies provided insight into how individuals' beliefs about positive emotions could guide their responses toward emotional experiences and subsequently contribute to their personal and relational well-being.

Intergroup relations research remains characterised by a lack of ecological validity, particularly when different groups are studied. In this paper, we present the PASS Method for ecologically valid scaling, illustrating its efficacy via a study on Arab-Maltese relations in Malta (EU). The PASS Method proceeds as follows: (1) A relevant Project (e.g., intercultural integration) is identified; (2) Argumentation on the project, by relevant groups, is analysed; (3) Scaling is pursued via expert ranking of items generated from the groups' arguments on the project, resulting in a self-positioning scale and an other-positioning scale relative to the same project; and (4) A Survey is distributed among the groups, asking participants for their own views (self-positioning) and for their views on what the other group thinks (other-positioning) on the project. We illustrate the PASS method by presenting scales built on the basis of Maltese and Arab arguments on the project of integration. Following item generation and scale validity and reliability tests, comparisons of Maltese and Arab distributions for the respective scales and single items are presented. We conclude by making critical recommendations for intergroup relations research and the application of PASS in community settings.

Although a great deal of literature has focused on the drivers of pro-environmental behaviours, the effects of past product choices on future pro-environmental product choices have not yet been thoroughly investigated. This study explores how choosing a green product influences subsequent pro-environmental product preference. Drawing on the self-perception and moral licensing research, we find that past green product consumption can yield two conflicting mechanisms: environmental self-perception (the green spillover effect) and perceived goal progress (the green licensing effect). Given these two conflicting mechanisms, past pro-environmental product selection subsequently either reinforces or undermines subsequent pro-environmental product purchase preference. This study finds that these effects are contingent on the pre-existing moral identities of individual consumers. Among consumers with high moral identity internalization or low moral identity symbolization, pro-environmental product purchase preference is reinforced, whereas consumers with low moral identity internalization or high moral identity symbolization show less preference for pro-environmental products after prior green consumption. Overall, these findings provide new insight into pro-environmental product consumption and moral identity.

Social media has become a primary channel for disseminating environmental information aimed at raising pro-environmental awareness. Post engagement plays a crucial role in effective information dissemination; therefore, environmentalists, government organizations and environmental protection agencies are increasingly focusing on enhancing pro-environmental post engagement on social media. This study applies the heuristic-systematic model to examine the effects of source credibility—a heuristic cue—and content objectivity—a systematic cue—on pro-environmental post engagement. Using 700 short videos from the Chinese TikTok (Douyin) platform, we empirically tested the proposed model. The results show that source credibility positively influences pro-environmental post engagement, whereas content objectivity negatively impacts pro-environmental post engagement, with a more significant effect than source credibility. Furthermore, this study reveals that content objectivity weakens the relationship between source credibility and pro-environmental post engagement. These findings provide empirical support for the attenuation effect in the heuristic-systematic model, demonstrating that when heuristic and systematic cues exert opposing influences on post engagement, systematic processing inhibits heuristic processing.

Terminal materialism is considered a bad form of materialism and harmful to individuals' well-being. However, few studies focus on how to reduce this value. The current research examined a way to decrease terminal materialism through a future time perspective. Study 1, through a survey of adults with a wide age, showed that limited time perspective was a significant predictor of terminal materialism. That is, the more limited the perception of time, the lower the level of terminal materialism. In Study 2, participants who were experimentally induced to a limited time perspective became less terminal materialistic, further revealed the causal relationship between future time perspective and terminal materialism. In Study 3, we used qualitative retrospective interviews with cancer survivors to explore the dynamic co-variation process of future time perception and terminal materialism. The results showed that, consistent with Studies 1 and 2, participants' terminal materialism decreased after experiencing limited future time perception. Our findings indicate that a limited time perspective may be a way for mitigating terminal materialism.

Military institutionalization involves internalizing military values, norms and structured behaviours that differ significantly from civilian life, leading to culture shock during the transition. Career experiences in the military imprint behaviours and identities that shape subsequent roles and how retired officers transition to the civilian world. The present study explored how military culture and identity influence military-to-civilian transition difficulty among retired army officers. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, resulting in three overarching themes: Transition and Contrasting Cultures, Transition and the Role of Military Imprinting and Relearning—Connecting Disparate Cultures. The themes are divided into subthemes that shed light on how veterans navigate cultural disparities, experience identity and ego conflict tribulation and highlight factors that facilitate bridging the military–civilian cultural gap. The study's findings underscore the pivotal influence of military culture and the identity forged within military organizations on veterans' transition experiences. These insights carry significant implications for veterans and reintegration programs. It further offers possible suggestions to enhance transition interventions by addressing psychological distress related to reculturation and identity transition to facilitate smoother integration.

Escalations in parental investments in organized extracurricular activities (OEAs) have garnered significant interest from both scholars and policymakers. The current study investigates the relationship between parental perceived economic inequality and parental investment in OEAs while also considering the potential mediating role of parental perceived competition among children and the moderating role of the expected return to education. Study 1 analysed two waves of data from the China Family Panel Studies Project (n = 1516) and found that parental perceived economic inequality was significantly and positively related to parents' investment behaviours 2 years later. Study 2 classified OEAs into two categories, academic-oriented OEAs and nonacademic-oriented OEAs, and recruited 232 Chinese parents whose children were in elementary school from grades 3 to 6. The Results indicated that the direct effect of parental perceived economic inequality, the mediating role of perceived competition among children, and the moderating role of the expected return to education on the direct effect were confirmed for academic-oriented OEAs but not for nonacademic-oriented OEAs. These results offer novel insights into the dynamics of educational fervour in regions marked by pronounced economic disparities.

Social network dependence refers to the behaviour where individuals pay excessive attention to social networks, leading to negative physiological and psychological consequences. This study intended to explore the relationships and mechanisms of internalized homonegativity, sexual orientation concealment, expectations of rejection, self-esteem and social network dependence among young Chinese gay men. A web sample of 510 young Chinese gay men completed a self-report questionnaire on internalized homonegativity, sexual orientation concealment, expectations of rejection, self-esteem and social network dependence. The results showed that internalized homonegativity was positively correlated with social network dependence. The associations between internalized homonegativity and social network dependence were mediated by sexual orientation concealment, expectations of rejection and self-esteem. In addition, sexual orientation concealment and self-esteem played a chain mediation role between internalized homonegativity and social network dependence, and expectations of rejection and self-esteem played a sequential mediation role between internalized homonegativity and social network dependence. The study is conducive to understanding the contributing factors and mechanisms of social network dependence.

The present study, centred on the meaning of life, employed a four-level socio-psychological analysis, categorizing participants (N = 400) based on intraindividual, interindividual, positional and ideological levels. Examining factors like self-construal, interpersonal discomfort, political self-positioning and social identity, the study revealed interconnections and combinatorial profiles. These groupings reflected interfaces between individual and interpersonal elaborations of meaning, extending into broader political, ideological and worldview contexts. These findings emphasize the permeable boundaries between socio-psychological levels, highlighting the complexity of meaning-making. The study contributes to the discourse on psychology's interdisciplinary nature, showcasing its role to unravel the complex interplay of personal, interpersonal and societal aspects in the pursuit of understanding the meaning of life.

Humblebragging is a common, indirect self-presentation strategy. However, its prevalence and effectiveness have never been tested in a non-western culture. Here, we explored the use and social costs of humblebragging in China across five studies. Studies 1a and 1b demonstrated the form and content of humblebragging on social media in Chinese daily life. Study 2 showed that compared to direct braggarts, observers felt higher contempt and less admiration towards humblebraggarts, and they were more willing to justify socially excluding them than direct braggarts. Study 3a and preregistered Study 3b found that humblebraggarts overestimated the extent to which recipients of their bragging admired them and underestimated the extent to which others felt contempt towards them, as well as others' willingness to exclude them. These findings extend our understanding of humblebragging's ineffectiveness and suggest that there is an interpersonal miscalibration when people use humblebragging.