British Journal of Social Psychology最新文献

In today's fast-paced world, increasing numbers of individuals face time poverty, i.e., having too much to do and not enough time. The current research conducted six studies (total valid N = 1307) examining whether time poverty influences individuals' construal levels and the moderating role of individuals' motivations towards what they do. The results consistently suggest that time poverty leads individuals to adopt more concrete construal regardless of whether time poverty was measured (Study 1) or manipulated either by a scenario (Studies 2a, 3–5) or by a recall task (Study 2b). Concrete construal prioritizes the “how” over the “why” aspect of actions (Studies 1 and 2a) and emphasizes secondary rather than primary features of options (Studies 2b, 3–5). Meanwhile, the results supported the moderating role of motivations (Studies 3–5). Specifically, compared with those experiencing time poverty due to too many things they “have-to” do (controlled motivation), those experiencing time poverty because of too many things they “want-to” do (autonomous motivation) demonstrated weaker tendencies towards adopting concrete construal. Taken together, our findings contribute to the growing literature on how the chronic perception of time poverty shapes the way people feel, think and do.

Collective nostalgia is an emotion experienced when one sentimentally recalls events or things related to a particular social identity. We investigated the relationship between collective nostalgia about the United Kingdom (UK) and UK citizens' desire to leave the European Union (EU). We collected data of UK citizens twice prior to the UK's official withdrawal from the European Union (N = 347 and N = 240) and once afterwards (N = 236). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis, utilizing cross-lagged panel models, supported the hypothesis that collective UK nostalgia increased the desire to leave the European Union. We additionally hypothesized that the relationship between these variables would be mediated positively by ties to UK citizens and negatively by ties to EU citizens. Exploratory and longitudinal analysis, however, indicated that strength of ties to UK and EU citizens predicts levels of collective UK nostalgia which, in turn, predicts desire to leave the European Union. Specifically, ties to UK citizens were associated with increased collective nostalgia and a desire to leave the EU and ties to EU citizens were associated with reduced collective nostalgia and a desire to re-join the European Union. We discuss the implications of the findings as well as making suggestions for future studies.

Although there is robust evidence that being more extraverted is related to higher popularity, only few studies have examined which actual behaviours (e.g., verbal content, body language) might explain this association. The current study examined whether observer-rated dominant behaviours (nonverbal, paraverbal, verbal, and general cues) mediate the relationship between self-rated extraversion and its facets (assertiveness, sociability, and activity) and other-rated popularity in zero-acquaintance settings. In two studies, we analysed data from face-to-face (Study 1, N = 124) and virtual (Study 2, N = 291) group interactions where participants were videotaped while performing a task and subsequently rated each other on popularity. Across studies, extraversion and the facets assertiveness and sociability were consistently associated with higher popularity, while the role of dominant behaviours differed. In Study 1, only two nonverbal behaviours, dominant gestures and upright posture, mediated the association between extraversion and popularity. In Study 2, all four types of behavioural cues mediated the association between extraversion (facets) and popularity. We discuss how these findings provide insights into the mechanisms of attaining popularity at zero acquaintance in diverse social settings.

The paper reports the results of registered conceptual replications of the indirect effect of institutional trust in the relationship between precarity and the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs (CB). The original study of Adam-Troian et al. (2023; British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(S1), 136-159) indicated that subjective appraisals of economic hardship are associated with lower trust in governments and institutions, which in turn is associated with stronger endorsement of CB. Our Studies 1 to 3 report a series of replications using Slovak panel data. Study 4 reports a replication of the mediation model using data from the European Social Survey Round 10 collected in 17 countries. To provide a quantitative synthesis of these and previous results, we conducted mini meta-analysis (N = 50,340). Although the strength of the observed relationships differed across the studies to some degree, the original patterns of relations remained robust, supporting the original model. The study corroborates the view that to curb the spread of CB, it is necessary to address structural issues, such as growing financial insecurity, socioeconomic inequalities, and the deficit of institutional trust. Finally, we discuss the role of cultural and political settings in conditioning the mechanisms through which precarity enhances the endorsement of CB.

Identity fusion – a powerful form of group alignment – is a strong predictor of using violence to defend the ingroup. However, recent theorizing suggests, in the absence of outgroup threat, fusion may instead promote intergroup trust and cooperation. Across five studies we find evidence that fusion to a range of groups (e.g., country, football team) was consistently positively associated with a willingness to trust others generally, trust outgroup members, and social exploration. An internal meta-analysis indicated that fusion was more strongly associated with trust and social exploration, compared to several measures of group identification. These findings provide support for the fusion-secure base hypothesis (Personality and Social Psychology Review. 2023, 27(2), 107–127) and suggest that fusion has the potential to increase a willingness to interact with, and trust, outgroup members.

Quantification, that is, the shaping of human environments in numerical terms, is so widespread in contemporary societies that it has contaminated almost all spheres of human life. We explore the links between performance quantification and individuals' feelings of being treated in a dehumanized way, that is, metadehumanization. We present an integrative research that assessed the relationships between performance quantification, metadehumanization, and on two of metadehumanization's consequences, that is, stress and disidentification, in three contexts, that is, organizations, sport, and social networks. In addition, we test the moderating roles of two individual variables, that is, competitiveness and tender-mindedness, in this model. In three samples (Ns = 204, 300, 297, for Samples A, B, and C, respectively), we show a mediation effect of metadehumanization on the links between performance quantification and stress and disidentification that holds despite of contextual variations. Unexpectedly, our two moderated mediation hypotheses did not hold or showed inconsistent effects across samples.

Building on the seminal studies of Solomon Asch and Muzafer Sherif, recent research has advanced our understanding of the mechanisms underlying social influence by applying a diffusion model analysis. Here, we combined the social identity approach to social influence with a diffusion model analysis to unravel the mechanisms underlying social influence. In particular, we aimed to disentangle whether the difference between in-group and out-group influence on perceptual decision-making is driven by a judgmental bias (i.e., changes in decision criteria) or a perceptual bias (i.e., changes in the uptake of sensory information). Preregistered analyses indicated that in-groups exerted stronger social influence than out-groups because in-groups induced a stronger perceptual bias than out-groups. This finding is in line with the single process assumption of the social identity approach because it implicates that the single process driving social influence (i.e., self-categorisation) translates into a change in a single subprocess of decision-making (i.e., biased information uptake). In conclusion, our results highlight that our theoretical understanding of social influence can be expanded by integrating the social identity approach with a diffusion model analysis.

This article introduces the Perceived Economic Scarcity Scale (PESS), a novel instrument measuring the subjective evaluation and experience of economic scarcity (the feeling of having insufficient financial resources to meet one's needs). We conducted three high-powered preregistered studies (total N = 1900) to rigorously evaluate the PESS's psychometric properties. In Study 1, we generated a pool of items and used both Principal Component Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis to select the most appropriate items. In Study 2, we examined the PESS's construct validity, demonstrating that it measures a distinct construct from related constructs such as subjective social class. In Study 3, we examined the PESS's predictive validity, demonstrating that it is a robust predictor of both affective outcomes (e.g. anxiety-depressive symptoms) and cognitive outcomes (e.g. economic risk-taking). Critically, we found that the PESS not only has incremental validity over and above income but also has greater predictive utility than income. We also found that the PESS score varies depending on the distance-to-pay and has excellent test–retest reliability. Overall, the PESS appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing perceived economic scarcity, and we encourage researchers to use it to better understand the psychological consequences of ‘not having enough’.

With the general aggression model (GAM), Anderson and Bushman (2002) provided an integrative framework to explain the complex nature of aggression. Based on the GAM, we examined whether personological and situational factors (interactively) have an impact on the person's internal state (consisting of aggressive cognition, affect, and physiological arousal), which in turn is assumed to lead to aggressive behaviour. In a large-scale experience sampling study, 403 participants answered 7558 questionnaires over a period of 2 weeks. As hypothesized, participants were more likely to exhibit an aggressive internal state the higher they scored on antagonistic personality traits (trait aggression, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism, anger rumination) and the more interpersonal, intrapersonal, and environmental triggers they experienced. Aggressive behaviour was positively related to trait aggression, psychopathy, sadism, anger rumination, and all situational triggers. Furthermore, the impact of antagonistic personality traits and situational triggers on aggressive behaviour was considerably reduced when the aggressive internal state was taken into account. Contrary to predictions, the relationship between antagonistic personality traits and the aggressive internal state was most pronounced when situational triggers were low. Overall, however, the process by which personal and situational variables predict aggression in daily life can be well explained by the GAM.

Throughout the course of scholarly history, some concepts have been notoriously hard to define. The ‘common good’ is one such concept. While the common good has a long and contested scholarly history, social psychology research on folk theories – lay beliefs that represent an individual's informal and subjective understanding of the world – may provide a key for unlocking this nebulous concept. In the current paper, we analysed lay definitions of the common good using the linguistic inquiry and word count's meaning extraction method. From a nationally representative Australian sample of open-ended text responses (n = 14,303), we uncovered a consistent conceptual structure, with nine themes corresponding to three core aspects: (i) outcomes and objects, (ii) principles and processes and (iii) stakeholders and beneficiaries. From this, we developed a working definition of the folk concept of the common good: ‘achieving the best possible outcome for the largest number of people, which is underpinned by decision-making that is ethically and morally sound and varies by the context in which the decisions are made’. A working definition benefits the academic community and society more broadly, particularly when diverse stakeholders come together to act for the common good to address shared challenges.