British Journal of Social Psychology最新文献

Identity fusion is a synergistic union of the personal self and target of fusion that predicts extreme behaviours on its behalf. Previous work identified that intense shared dysphoric experiences cause fusion with groups, but no research to date has investigated changes in fusion before, during and after a collective traumatic experience. Six repeated cross-sectional surveys conducted in Spain (2017–2022) (Study 1) showed that differences between sample means in fusion with the country increased during the COVID-19 pandemic but decreased when the COVID-19 subsided. In addition, an experiment provided support for these results (Study 2), since making salient the COVID-19 crisis (vs. neutral situation) increased fusion with the country. Finally, three additional repeated cross-sectional surveys conducted in Ukraine (Study 3), one month before the war, one month after the war began and eight months later, replicated that differences between sample means in fusion increased just when the war started, but decreased when the conflict turned chronic. The effects were replicated for fusion with a value, democracy. Apparently, dysphoric experiences represent a temporary drive of fusion, but not a maintenance factor.

People often hold incompatible stereotypes of gay and Black men, making it unlikely for someone to be seen as both simultaneously. Five studies with 1226 participants evidence that these stereotypes produce classic conjunction fallacy violations of extensional reasoning. Adapting Tversky and Kahneman's (1983, Psychological Review, 90(4), 293–315.) classic ‘Linda problem’, we found that a man with Black-stereotypic attributes was deemed more likely to be both Black and gay than to be gay (Studies 1 and 3), while a man with gay-stereotypic attributes was deemed more likely to be both gay and Black than to be Black (Studies 2 and 4). These effects were not equivalent, suggesting that Black-stereotypic traits preclude attributions of gayness more than gay-stereotypic preclude attributions of Blackness. Updating impressions of a gay-stereotypic man with Black-stereotypic attributes suppressed judgements of the likelihood he is gay. However, new information that a Black-stereotypic man has gay-stereotypic attributes did not suppress the likelihood he is Black (Study 5). New information that a Black-stereotypic man is gay did not ‘deracialize’ him as much as the inference that a gay-stereotypic man is Black ‘degayed’ him. These asymmetric conjunction fallacies triangulate with past findings to suggest ‘Black’ may be dominant over ‘gay’ in impression formation at this intersection.

Recent developments within social influence research have demonstrated how resistance is temporally and sequentially accomplished within social interaction. The everyday morality of trying to get another person to do something against their will has, however, not been fully explored. Using the example of a sequence from a family mealtime, this paper illustrates how a concept typically understood as an individual concern – food refusal – can be reframed as a social phenomenon involving the delicate management of local identities and moral responsibilities. The study uses a single case analysis of a video-recorded interaction from a UK family mealtime. Using discursive psychology and conversation analysis, we demonstrate that food refusal can be examined as interactional resistance, with different forms of resistance embedded within diverging action trajectories. The analysis illustrates an instance of ‘reluctant compliance’, involving a complex configuration of complying with a directive while simultaneously displaying unwillingness to do so. Finally, we highlight that dealing with resistance within the family mealtime involves the management of local identities and the moral sensitivity of claiming deontic authority over another person's food consumption. The analysis has implications not only for research on resistance and food refusal but also for the everyday accomplishment of social influence within families.

This article synthesizes cutting-edge research from our special issue examining power across groups, communities and nations to advance a fundamental reconceptualization that reveals power's inherent plurality, dynamism and cultural embeddedness. Drawing on evidence from a diverse set of countries and innovative methodologies, we demonstrate that traditional definitions of power as asymmetric resource control fail to capture its real-world complexity. The collected research reveals three critical insights. First, power operates through multiple, intersecting mechanisms—from ideological frameworks like hegemonic masculinity to seemingly benevolent helping behaviours that maintain hierarchies. Second, power's meaning and operation vary dramatically across cultural contexts, with the power-status relationship ranging from nearly synonymous in some societies to entirely disconnected in others. Third, marginalized groups develop sophisticated alternative conceptualizations of power as collective resistance, cultural preservation and mutual aid that enable transformation despite structural disadvantages. These findings necessitate theoretical frameworks that accommodate power's plurality while identifying general principles, examining dynamic processes rather than static attributes and integrating multiple levels of analysis. We argue for moving beyond imposed definitions to understand how diverse groups conceptualize their own agency, examining not just domination but resistance and developing interventions that promote more equitable power distributions.

This study examined how conspiracy beliefs influence romantic relationships. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 partners (or ex-partners) of conspiracy believers, asking questions about their experiences in their relationships. A thematic analysis generated several key themes. Specifically, participants described how their partner's beliefs led to relational strain in the form of conflict and communication breakdown, which was tied to the psychosocial death of the partner and the relationship. There were several negative effects on participants, as their partner's beliefs not only affected their relationship dynamic but also took a psychological and physical toll on the participants themselves. Sense-making became important as participants tried to understand their partner's beliefs. Ultimately, most relationships deteriorated, and many ended, though some remained intact due to financial or emotional barriers. During this process, participants reported seeking support and started to navigate endings in the case of relationship dissolution. These findings extend current knowledge on the consequences of conspiracy theories for interpersonal relationships, suggesting that they pose significant barriers to successful romantic attachments.

Social identity research has yet to fully engage with identity economics. This article bridges the two by examining capital market participation and capital income inequality – a critical economic behaviour and a societal issue that remain understudied in social psychology. We integrate psychological concepts and metrics of social identity with large-scale, representative UK data on household economics, encompassing 60,156 individuals and 130,598 observations from 2010 to 2023. Examining gender, ethnicity, education, occupation, politics, age and family as aspects of individuals' self-concept, our findings show that between- and within-person variations in these identities, beyond mere group memberships, were uniquely associated with both the presence and amount of capital income. Rather than reinforcing group membership effects, which could suggest adherence to group norms around capital market participation, our results highlight the importance of identity domains. Gender and ethnic identity were associated with lower capital income, whereas educational and political identity were linked to higher capital income. These patterns persisted across different groups and income strata. Importantly, the predictive power of social identities was comparable to traditional sociodemographic variables. This study extends social identity research to understudied economic behaviours and contributes to the emerging fields of identity economics and the psychology of inequality.

Leaders play an important role in social change efforts by influencing individuals to work together towards a collective goal through the construction of a shared identity. However, the external conditions in which a group is situated can facilitate or constrain leaders' identity strategies, which, in turn, may affect the success of the group's social change objectives. Using the feminist movement as a case study, we employed qualitative surveys to examine how leaders (N = 39) in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States constructed and communicated group identities that were inclusionary of transgender women, and the challenges they faced when doing so. Results from a reflexive thematic analysis showed that leaders created trans-inclusionary feminist identities by developing value-aligned coalitions with transgender groups, ingroup policies and inclusive symbols and slogans. These group identities were challenged by unsupportive policies, funding requirements and outgroup backlash. Feminist leaders responded in various ways, including altering the shared group identity or reaffirming the identity. From these findings, a cyclical relationship is proposed between leaders' identity strategies, the challenges posed by their groups' external environments and how leaders navigate these challenges in maintaining and communicating group identity.

In this perspective, we discuss the problem of mistrust in science through the lens of intergroup dynamics. Within this framework, we focus on why and how certain groups—most notably conservative-leaning audiences, individuals high in social dominance orientation and those who endorse science-populist beliefs—perceive scientists as a socially distant and even threatening out-group. We outline evidence-based strategies—including structured contact and collaboration, recategorization, crossed categorization and decategorization and perspective-taking/perspective-giving—and illustrate how they can be applied to rebuild trust between scientists and the public. Examples include participatory citizen science projects, joint community-scientist initiatives, highlighting scientists' overlapping identities with target communities and communication that reflects both scientists' and community members' moral perspectives. We emphasize that these interventions must be tailored to local contexts and guided by diagnostic research that identifies which groups hold the most negative perceptions of scientists, how scientists perceive the public and specific social-psychological mechanisms at play—such as perceived moral conflict and symbolic threat. Finally, we caution against viewing intergroup approaches as stand-alone solutions; rather, we suggest they should complement broader systemic efforts to improve the information environment and the social conditions under which trust in science can thrive.

Through five studies, this research examined how objectively measured societal freedom and individual perceptions of it are related to reduced belief in conspiracy theories. Study 1 (N = 6353 participants from 36 countries) examined the negative relationship between societal freedom (as measured by the Human Freedom Index) and generic conspiracy beliefs. Study 2 (N = 44,458 participants from 52 countries) focused on interest group-related COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs– a measure not explicitly referring to government actors. Moving to the individual level, Study 3 (N = 278) examined relationships between perceived societal freedom and various conspiracy beliefs, while Study 4 (N = 246) experimentally tested whether manipulating perceptions of societal freedom affected belief in generic conspiracist beliefs as well as those related to vaccines and financial crises. Results indicated that both greater societal freedom and higher perceived societal freedom are associated with lower levels of conspiracy beliefs. In Study 5 (N = 592), we examined the psychological mechanisms mediating the relationship between perceived societal freedom and conspiracy beliefs and found the significant indirect effect via political anger. These findings contribute to a broader understanding of how macro-level conditions can be incorporated into efforts to reduce the prevalence of conspiracy theories.

In two studies (N = 886), we examined how individuals judge and select feedback providers for those who either handle criticism well or poorly after performing a low-quality task. Prosocial liars who provided overly positive feedback, were judged as more moral than honest feedback providers. However, despite this, honest feedback providers were preferred for both oneself and others. Interestingly, when choosing a feedback provider for a vulnerable recipient versus a generic other, participants preferred a prosocial liar in the former case. Similarly, a ‘sensitive’ feedback provider, defined as someone who tells the truth to individuals who handle criticism well but offers overly positive feedback to those who struggle, was also favoured when the recipient was vulnerable compared with when the recipient was unspecified. Notably, the sensitive provider was not judged as less moral than the honest one, suggesting that inconsistent (dis)honesty is tolerated when it aligns with social needs. These findings indicate that individuals strategically adjust preferences for honesty versus lying based on social cues.