Pub Date : 2023-02-01DOI: 10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.88
Yael Ecker, Michael Gilead, R. Imhoff
The current research examined the motivations to maintain, approach, and avoid at different distances from one's ideal state. Although keeping things as they are (maintenance) is often equated with avoiding changes, we predicted pronounced differences between these goals’ motivation gradients. We reasoned that maintenance goals are energized by positive current states, leading motivation to increase with proximity to the ideal. Avoidance, in contrast, is energized by threat, and therefore decreases with proximity to the ideal, which implicates reduced threat. Three studies (N = 599) found a robust pattern wherein the motivation gradient of maintenance is distinct from both approach and avoidance. Participants reported motivation in hypothetical scenarios in the domains of financial gain and weight loss. The motivation to maintain increased with proximity to the ideal state, while both motivations to approach and avoid decreased. Our results support a ternary goal distinction and may inspire future research in that direction.
{"title":"An Examination of the Motivations to Maintain, Approach, and Avoid by Proximity to the Ideal State","authors":"Yael Ecker, Michael Gilead, R. Imhoff","doi":"10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.88","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.88","url":null,"abstract":"The current research examined the motivations to maintain, approach, and avoid at different distances from one's ideal state. Although keeping things as they are (maintenance) is often equated with avoiding changes, we predicted pronounced differences between these goals’ motivation gradients. We reasoned that maintenance goals are energized by positive current states, leading motivation to increase with proximity to the ideal. Avoidance, in contrast, is energized by threat, and therefore decreases with proximity to the ideal, which implicates reduced threat. Three studies (N = 599) found a robust pattern wherein the motivation gradient of maintenance is distinct from both approach and avoidance. Participants reported motivation in hypothetical scenarios in the domains of financial gain and weight loss. The motivation to maintain increased with proximity to the ideal state, while both motivations to approach and avoid decreased. Our results support a ternary goal distinction and may inspire future research in that direction.","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44738826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-01DOI: 10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.41
Tina Glaser, Jens H. Hellmann, Naemi Pilz, G. Bohner
The terms left and right can refer to spatial or political orientations. We hypothesized that a match (vs. mismatch) of spatial position and political orientation would lead to more positive political judgments. In three experiments, German participants (total N = 517) evaluated statements from the political left-wing and right-wing spectrums as well as German political parties presented either on the left or on the right side of their screens. When statements were presented on the left, politically left statements as well as left-wing parties were evaluated more favorably than when these statements were presented on the right. Conversely, politically right statements and right-wing parties were evaluated more favorably when the statements were presented on the right versus left side of the screen. Cultural conservatism, need for cognitive closure, and openness to experience were assessed but did not mediate these effects. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of the results.
{"title":"Left and Right in Space and Politics","authors":"Tina Glaser, Jens H. Hellmann, Naemi Pilz, G. Bohner","doi":"10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.41","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.41","url":null,"abstract":"The terms left and right can refer to spatial or political orientations. We hypothesized that a match (vs. mismatch) of spatial position and political orientation would lead to more positive political judgments. In three experiments, German participants (total N = 517) evaluated statements from the political left-wing and right-wing spectrums as well as German political parties presented either on the left or on the right side of their screens. When statements were presented on the left, politically left statements as well as left-wing parties were evaluated more favorably than when these statements were presented on the right. Conversely, politically right statements and right-wing parties were evaluated more favorably when the statements were presented on the right versus left side of the screen. Cultural conservatism, need for cognitive closure, and openness to experience were assessed but did not mediate these effects. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of the results.","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49490546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-01DOI: 10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.67
Joana F. Reis, Mário B Ferreira, André Mata, Amanda Seruti, L. Garcia-Marques
Building on research about naïve theories of biases, we propose that people are more likely to engage in critical thinking when assessing others’ reasoning. Hence, anchoring effects should be reduced when anchor values are presented as others’ estimates and people perceive others as less knowledgeable (i.e., more prone to biases) than themselves. Three experiments tested this hypothesis by presenting the same anchors as other participants’ answers or without a specified source. This source manipulation was combined with explicit forewarnings about the anchoring effect, which have been shown to trigger debiasing efforts. In support of our hypothesis, results showed that anchors provided by a social source effectively reduced the anchoring effect and did so in a more reliable way than forewarnings. Furthermore, the response-time analysis in two of the experiments suggests that such attenuation was the result of deliberate adjustment.
{"title":"Anchoring in a Social Context: How the Possibility of Being Misinformed by Others Impacts One's Judgment","authors":"Joana F. Reis, Mário B Ferreira, André Mata, Amanda Seruti, L. Garcia-Marques","doi":"10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.67","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.67","url":null,"abstract":"Building on research about naïve theories of biases, we propose that people are more likely to engage in critical thinking when assessing others’ reasoning. Hence, anchoring effects should be reduced when anchor values are presented as others’ estimates and people perceive others as less knowledgeable (i.e., more prone to biases) than themselves. Three experiments tested this hypothesis by presenting the same anchors as other participants’ answers or without a specified source. This source manipulation was combined with explicit forewarnings about the anchoring effect, which have been shown to trigger debiasing efforts. In support of our hypothesis, results showed that anchors provided by a social source effectively reduced the anchoring effect and did so in a more reliable way than forewarnings. Furthermore, the response-time analysis in two of the experiments suggests that such attenuation was the result of deliberate adjustment.","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41575626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial: From Our New Editor","authors":"Keith B. Maddox","doi":"10.1063/1.1751570","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1751570","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1063/1.1751570","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47818110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.503
Rebecca L. Dyer, David A Pizarro, D. Ariely
Though the study of blame is far from new, little to no research has systematically investigated how perpetrator-blame and victim-blame influence one another. The current series of studies used correlational (Study 1), experimental (Studies 2 and 3), and mediational (Studies 3A and 3B) designs to address this issue. Results indicated that when it comes to perpetrators and victims, blame is zero-sum. Across a diverse set of crimes of varying severity, the more that a victim is seen as playing a causal role in a crime, the less blame is assigned to the perpetrator. In addition, when victim-culpability is experimentally manipulated, having a more causally responsible victim actually mitigates blame for the perpetrator, and this discounting of perpetrator-blame occurs because the victim is seen as more deserving of what happened. Results are discussed in terms of real-world implications.
{"title":"They Had It Coming: The Relationship Between Perpetrator-Blame and Victim-Blame","authors":"Rebecca L. Dyer, David A Pizarro, D. Ariely","doi":"10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.503","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.503","url":null,"abstract":"Though the study of blame is far from new, little to no research has systematically investigated how perpetrator-blame and victim-blame influence one another. The current series of studies used correlational (Study 1), experimental (Studies 2 and 3), and mediational (Studies 3A and 3B) designs to address this issue. Results indicated that when it comes to perpetrators and victims, blame is zero-sum. Across a diverse set of crimes of varying severity, the more that a victim is seen as playing a causal role in a crime, the less blame is assigned to the perpetrator. In addition, when victim-culpability is experimentally manipulated, having a more causally responsible victim actually mitigates blame for the perpetrator, and this discounting of perpetrator-blame occurs because the victim is seen as more deserving of what happened. Results are discussed in terms of real-world implications.","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42805468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.600
{"title":"Author Index to Volume 40, 2022 Social Cognition","authors":"","doi":"10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.600","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.600","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43414201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.549
Minjae Kim, L. Young, Stefano Anzellotti
A large body of past work has sought to identify the underlying dimensions that capture our trait knowledge of other people. However, the importance of particular traits in determining our overall impressions of others is not well understood, and different traits may be fundamental for impressions of famous versus unfamiliar people. For instance, we may focus on competence when evaluating a famous person, but on trustworthiness when evaluating a stranger. To examine the structure of overall impressions of famous people and of unfamiliar people, we probed the contributions of 13 different trait judgments to perceived similarity judgments. We found that different sets of traits best predicted perceived similarity between famous people versus between unfamiliar people; however, the relationship between each trait and perceived similarity generalized to some extent from famous people to unfamiliar people, suggesting a degree of overlap in the structure of overall impressions.
{"title":"Exploring the Representational Structure of Trait Knowledge Using Perceived Similarity Judgments","authors":"Minjae Kim, L. Young, Stefano Anzellotti","doi":"10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.549","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.549","url":null,"abstract":"A large body of past work has sought to identify the underlying dimensions that capture our trait knowledge of other people. However, the importance of particular traits in determining our overall impressions of others is not well understood, and different traits may be fundamental for impressions of famous versus unfamiliar people. For instance, we may focus on competence when evaluating a famous person, but on trustworthiness when evaluating a stranger. To examine the structure of overall impressions of famous people and of unfamiliar people, we probed the contributions of 13 different trait judgments to perceived similarity judgments. We found that different sets of traits best predicted perceived similarity between famous people versus between unfamiliar people; however, the relationship between each trait and perceived similarity generalized to some extent from famous people to unfamiliar people, suggesting a degree of overlap in the structure of overall impressions.","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47433328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.580
Bertram Gawronski, Skylar M. Brannon, Nyx L. Ng
Dual-process and single-process theories lead to conflicting predictions about whether debunking messages negating a state of affairs should change responses on implicit measures in a manner intended by the message. Two preregistered studies (N1 = 550; N2 = 880) tested these predictions using official health information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention debunking the idea that vaccines would cause autism. Consistent with predictions derived from dual-process learning theories, Experiment 1 found that debunking-via-negation increased responses linking vaccines to autism on implicit measures, although it effectively reduced self-reported judgments linking vaccines to autism on explicit measures. Using the same measures and materials, Experiment 2 found that debunking-via-negation effectively reduced responses linking vaccines to autism on both implicit and explicit measures, consistent with predictions derived from single-process propositional theories. Potential reasons for the conflicting outcomes are discussed, including their implications for the debate between dual-process and single-process theories.
{"title":"Debunking Misinformation About a Causal Link Between Vaccines and Autism: Two Preregistered Tests of Dual-Process Versus Single-Process Predictions (With Conflicting Results)","authors":"Bertram Gawronski, Skylar M. Brannon, Nyx L. Ng","doi":"10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2022.40.6.580","url":null,"abstract":"Dual-process and single-process theories lead to conflicting predictions about whether debunking messages negating a state of affairs should change responses on implicit measures in a manner intended by the message. Two preregistered studies (N1 = 550; N2 = 880) tested these predictions using official health information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention debunking the idea that vaccines would cause autism. Consistent with predictions derived from dual-process learning theories, Experiment 1 found that debunking-via-negation increased responses linking vaccines to autism on implicit measures, although it effectively reduced self-reported judgments linking vaccines to autism on explicit measures. Using the same measures and materials, Experiment 2 found that debunking-via-negation effectively reduced responses linking vaccines to autism on both implicit and explicit measures, consistent with predictions derived from single-process propositional theories. Potential reasons for the conflicting outcomes are discussed, including their implications for the debate between dual-process and single-process theories.","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42660587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-01DOI: 10.1521/soco.2022.40.5.459
Zachary W. Petzel, Jeffrey G Noel, B. Casad
Viewing alcohol-related cues (e.g., advertisements) is known to promote expressions of racial bias and aggression through the temporary promotion of reflexive or impulsive responding. However, this increased automaticity may be inhibited by thoughtful control of behavior. We examined the role of controlled processes in the suppression of racial bias following alcohol cue exposure across two experiments. Experiment 1 (N = 125) indicated reduced control of behavior promoted greater expressions of racial bias after viewing alcohol-related cues. Experiment 2 (N = 71) replicated these effects, suggesting individuals with lower neural indices of control, indexed by reduced amplitudes of the error-related negativity (ERN), similarly express greater racial bias after viewing alcohol-related cues. These findings replicate previous work suggesting alcohol-related cues promote impulsivity and application of negative racial stereotypes. Yet, whether this automaticity manifests into behavioral expressions of racial bias depends on the availability to engage self-control to inhibit these socially undesirable responses.
{"title":"Discrimination Without Intoxication: The Role of Controlled Processes in the Promotion of Racial Bias After Viewing Alcohol-Related Cues","authors":"Zachary W. Petzel, Jeffrey G Noel, B. Casad","doi":"10.1521/soco.2022.40.5.459","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2022.40.5.459","url":null,"abstract":"Viewing alcohol-related cues (e.g., advertisements) is known to promote expressions of racial bias and aggression through the temporary promotion of reflexive or impulsive responding. However, this increased automaticity may be inhibited by thoughtful control of behavior. We examined the role of controlled processes in the suppression of racial bias following alcohol cue exposure across two experiments. Experiment 1 (N = 125) indicated reduced control of behavior promoted greater expressions of racial bias after viewing alcohol-related cues. Experiment 2 (N = 71) replicated these effects, suggesting individuals with lower neural indices of control, indexed by reduced amplitudes of the error-related negativity (ERN), similarly express greater racial bias after viewing alcohol-related cues. These findings replicate previous work suggesting alcohol-related cues promote impulsivity and application of negative racial stereotypes. Yet, whether this automaticity manifests into behavioral expressions of racial bias depends on the availability to engage self-control to inhibit these socially undesirable responses.","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42751017","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-01DOI: 10.1521/soco.2022.40.5.485
Thanaphat Thongpaibool, J. Halberstadt
Paradoxically, people sometimes express weaker attitudes after generating more supporting arguments, a phenomenon usually attributed to subjective difficulty of generating them. We propose, however, that generating too many arguments compromises their evidentiary quality, which additionally explains attitude change. In Studies 1 and 2, Mechanical Turk participants generated 12 arguments supporting social issues. The results showed that, as more arguments were generated, the time of generating them increased, but the self-perceived argument quality declined. Although both correlated with attitudes, and each other, only argument quality uniquely predicted attitudes. Study 3 applied these insights to the “ease of retrieval paradigm,” showing that attitude change associated with generating 12 (versus 3) arguments was mediated by argument quality and its relationship with difficulty, although a main effect of argument number was not observed. The results show how reasoning involves an interplay of cognitive and metacognitive dynamics that produce self-generated attitude change in counterintuitive ways.
{"title":"Too Much Information! The Interplay of Argument Quality and Subjective Difficulty in Attitude Judgment","authors":"Thanaphat Thongpaibool, J. Halberstadt","doi":"10.1521/soco.2022.40.5.485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2022.40.5.485","url":null,"abstract":"Paradoxically, people sometimes express weaker attitudes after generating more supporting arguments, a phenomenon usually attributed to subjective difficulty of generating them. We propose, however, that generating too many arguments compromises their evidentiary quality, which additionally explains attitude change. In Studies 1 and 2, Mechanical Turk participants generated 12 arguments supporting social issues. The results showed that, as more arguments were generated, the time of generating them increased, but the self-perceived argument quality declined. Although both correlated with attitudes, and each other, only argument quality uniquely predicted attitudes. Study 3 applied these insights to the “ease of retrieval paradigm,” showing that attitude change associated with generating 12 (versus 3) arguments was mediated by argument quality and its relationship with difficulty, although a main effect of argument number was not observed. The results show how reasoning involves an interplay of cognitive and metacognitive dynamics that produce self-generated attitude change in counterintuitive ways.","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46257040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}