International Journal of Psychology最新文献

Previous studies show that people often feel more capable of prosocial behaviours after downward comparisons. However, there is limited research on how downward comparisons affect pro-environmental consumption. We conducted two online experiments to investigate the impact of downward comparisons on pro-environmental consumption under temporal (Study 1) and social (Study 2) comparisons in China. The results show that downward temporal comparison positively affected preferences for pro-environmental products. Downward social comparison increased both preferences and the willingness to pay for pro-environmental products. In terms of the mechanism, the temporal comparison effect was accounted for by self-evaluations and private self-awareness. Meanwhile, self-evaluations and both private and public self-awareness accounted for the social comparison effect. These findings underscore the importance of downward temporal and social comparisons on pro-environmental consumption within the cultural context of China. Our study establishes links between downward comparisons and pro-environmental consumption within the framework of the internal/external model and self-image/product-image congruity theory. The findings also have significant implications for designing tailored strategies aimed at incentivising pro-environmental consumption.

In everyday life, people frequently seek advice from others. The purposes of seeking advice can be twofold: first, to improve the accuracy of decisions, which is driven by accuracy motivation; and second, to establish good relationships with the advisors, which is driven by relationship motivation. Advisors, when giving advice to others, also consider the potential motivations behind the decision makers' advice-seeking. Two studies explore how advisors give advice based on the perceived advice-seeking motivations of decision makers. The results indicate that: (1) In terms of willingness to give advice, the impact of perceived advice-seeking motivations is not significant, but a closer social distance can increase the advisors' willingness to give advice. (2) Regarding advice-giving behaviour, when advisors perceive close friends seeking advice based on relationship motivation (compared to accuracy motivation), they tend to search for more information and spend long time searching. However, when they perceive ordinary friends seeking advice driven by accuracy motivation (compared to relationship motivation), advisors exhibit greater effort in searching for information. This research can help decision makers get better advice.

Studies revealed that teachers frequently experience stress and a decline in job satisfaction. This meta-analysis examined the association between teacher well-being measures and self-compassion, as well as the impact of mindfulness interventions on these traits. The study synthesises data from 19 studies, encompassing a total of 4420 teachers. It reveals a significant positive correlation between teacher well-being and self-compassion. Specifically, self-compassion inversely correlates with stress levels (r = −0.49) and positively correlates with job satisfaction (r = 0.32). Furthermore, mindfulness interventions have been shown to substantially enhance both self-compassion (Cohen's d = 0.77) and mindfulness (Cohen's d = 0.78) among teachers. These findings suggest that mindfulness interventions can effectively increase self-compassion, thereby improving teacher well-being. The positive association between self-compassion and teacher well-being underscores the potential benefits of targeted interventions to enhance these traits. However, further high-quality research is necessary to optimise interventions aimed at augmenting teacher self-compassion. This is crucial for fostering greater teacher well-being and effectiveness in educational settings.

Within the current study, we address the question of whether intelligence would be negatively related to narcissistic identity with nation (i.e., belief in the nation's greatness that requires external recognition) and endorsement of conspiracy theories (i.e., the tendency to explain events through secret plots by powerful groups). We found a consistent pattern of associations using the data from two culturally different samples of Polish (N = 1143) and British (N = 388) participants. That is, we observed consistent negative relationships between intelligence and socio-psychological variables responsible for out-group derogation: national narcissism and conspiracy beliefs. Moreover, lower national narcissism partially accounted for the association between higher intelligence and lower conspiracy beliefs, which provides initial evidence that higher intelligence may be related not only to a less narcissistic identity but also to weaker endorsement of conspiracy theories. We discuss the implications for understanding the role of intelligence and national narcissism in shaping the psychological roots of susceptibility to conspiracy narratives.

The relationship between imaginary companions (ICs) and the development of children's theory of mind (ToM) has aroused the interest of many researchers in the area of imaginary play. This study sought to investigate the potential causal relationships between ICs and ToM and between child–IC relationship quality and ToM using a longitudinal design. The present study included 104 Chinese preschool children and ran over approximately 13 months. IC status (with and without ICs) and child–IC relationship quality (egalitarian and hierarchical) were measured twice, at 1 month and 13 months. ToM was measured only once, at 7 months. Path analysis and bootstrap analysis with offset corrections were used to explore potential causal paths. The results revealed that ICs had a positive effect on ToM, but ToM could not predict IC status. No causal relationship existed between child–IC relationship quality and ToM in children with ICs at both Time 1 and 3. Children with higher scores on receptive vocabulary were more likely to create egalitarian child–IC relationships. Future researchers could further optimise the research design and investigate the internal mechanism of the existing causal relationships.

Social hierarchy stereotypes play an important role in triggering intergroup prejudices. However, few researchers explored how people with different power and status perceive the differences in the social hierarchy stereotypes of ingroup and outgroup. We used the probe recognition paradigm to examine the ingroup–outgroup effect of implicit social hierarchy stereotypes on warmth and competence. The results showed that the high-power groups showed an implicit ingroup preference on competence but no warmth-based bias, whereas low-power groups showed an implicit outgroup preference on competence and an implicit ingroup preference on warmth; the high-status groups showed implicit ingroup preferences on both competence and warmth, and low-status groups showed an implicit outgroup preference on competence and an implicit ingroup preference on warmth. This suggests that power and status play different roles in predicting the implicit stereotypes of warmth and competence.

The global decline in fertility rates highlights the critical need to enhance individuals' fertility intentions. Using the socio-ecological perspective, we reveal a largely overlooked yet crucial socio-ecological factor that influences individuals' fertility intentions. Specifically, we propose that relational mobility serves as a precursor to fertility intention. Four studies using different operationalisations of relational mobility provided convergent support for this idea. Study 1 and Study 2 indicated that relational mobility positively predicted fertility intention by separately using national representative data and a survey approach. Study 3 replicated these results in an experimental setting and demonstrated the causal effect of relational mobility on fertility intention. Study 4 further revealed that this effect was driven by perceived social resource availability. Our findings add to the literature on fertility intention and relational mobility. Moreover, policymakers can consider boosting individuals' fertility intentions by improving the relational mobility of the environment in which they reside or by activating individuals' perceptions of high relational mobility in their immediate societies.