European Journal of Social Psychology最新文献

In previous research on advice taking, researchers have mainly focused on certain types of advice. However, in practice, when people give advice to others, there is often a degree of uncertainty (e.g. I think that the distance between Beijing and Shanghai is between 800 and 1200 km). To date, only a few studies have examined the impact of uncertain advice on advice taking. Through two studies, the present research explores the influence of advice uncertainty and individuals’ regulatory mode predominance on advice taking and the mediating mechanism. In Study 1, the participants' chronic regulatory mode was measured by a questionnaire, and in Study 2, we induced the predominance of the participants’ situational regulatory mode using a recall task. We found that people are more likely to adopt advice with low uncertainty. The moderating effect of participants' regulatory mode on the impact of advice uncertainty on advice taking occurs only when the regulatory mode is induced by the situation. For the assessment-predominant group, there was a significant difference between the no-uncertainty group and the high-uncertainty group, while for the locomotion-predominant group, this difference was not significant. Additionally, our study revealed the mediating role of advice reliability, which existed only when the participants were able to compare low- and no-uncertainty advice in a within-participant design. That is, when decision makers adopt uncertainty advice within ranges, they not only consider reliability but also weigh multiple factors. Our findings contribute to understanding the mechanisms underlying individuals' preferences for uncertain advice and reasoning about individual differences.

Perceiving partner emotions accurately is relevant for relationship functioning and may relate to perceivers’ attachment orientations. Here we tested whether attachment anxiety and avoidance affect the perception of a hard and a flat partner emotion which can signal a relationship threat, that is, irritation and indifference towards the partner, and of general affective valence. We assessed whether individuals (1) over- or underestimate (directional bias) and (2) track changes (tracking accuracy) in their partner's emotions. Ninety-four couples reported on their own emotions and their perception of their partner's emotions multiple times per day during 1 week. Results revealed that more avoidantly attached men less accurately tracked changes in partner irritation and more anxiously attached men less accurately tracked changes in partner affective valence. No other significant associations of attachment with tracking accuracy nor with directional bias were found. Overall, the findings suggest no robust relation between attachment insecurity and perception of partner irritation, indifference and affective valence in everyday life.

We examined if being ostracized (excluded and ignored) changes working self-perception of personality ─ a core aspect of the self ─ which may contribute to understanding post-ostracism behaviour. Across three studies (N = 943), using a virtual ball-toss game (i.e., Cyberball), participants were either ostracized, included or mentally visualized playing the game. Subsequently, participants reported working self-perceptions of their personality (using two measures of Big Five personality), ostracism's immediate effects (e.g., basic needs) and post-ostracism behavioural intentions: aggressive temptations and solitude seeking. Across the studies, ostracism in Cyberball negatively impacted working self-perception of personality: ostracized participants were less conscientious, agreeable, open and extraverted, and more neurotic (negative emotionality), compared to controls. Illustrating that altered working self-perceptions are important to consider, ostracism's increase of aggressive temptations was mediated by agreeableness, even when accounting for ostracism's immediate (reflexive) effects. Additionally, ostracism's increase in solitude seeking was mediated by extraversion. Ultimately, these aversive self-perceptions may create difficulties in socially connecting with others.

Objectification theory predicts that women's self-objectification should lead to sexual dysfunction, yet previous studies failed to provide consistent support for this prediction. The present research—which used two sufficiently powered samples and a self-objectification measurement (SOBBS) with improved psychometric qualities and content validity than previous measurements—found support for the expected association between self-objectification and sexual dysfunction among heterosexual women in Israel and the United States (N = 404 and 366, M_age = 30.59 and 36.93, respectively). We also examined two novel potential mediators of this association, entitlement for pleasure and sexual agency (i.e., the capability to express sexual desires and boundaries), and found that the latter mediated the link between self-objectification and sexual dysfunction. The mediators originally proposed by objectification theory (i.e. appearance anxiety, body shame, awareness of internal body states and flow) failed to mediate this link. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.

In the present research, we propose that perceptions of social mobility (PSM) are beneficial for oneself but costly to others. Supporting this idea, people who were led to think that social mobility in society is probable (vs. improbable) (Study 1a/b, N = 754; Study 3a/b, N = 938) or held this belief at a dispositional level (Study 2a/b, N = 877) showed greater endorsement of system justifying beliefs, which was related to greater happiness and life satisfaction. However, the more people perceived social mobility and justified the system, the less willing they were to help others in need, and this was especially true for those who thought the current economic system was fair and legitimate. Thus, while greater perceived social mobility is related to increased personal well-being through justification of the sociopolitical system, it predicts less desire to help others due to increased support of the economic status quo.

In this research, we focused on women's perception of men as allies depending on the type of confrontation. We conducted four experimental scenario studies (Study 1 and 2 in a bar setting; Study 3 and 4 in a workplace setting) where a man confronted a sexist comment using either an egalitarian or paternalistic argument. Results showed that women are more likely to perceive egalitarian (vs. paternalistic) confronters as allies (Studies 1–4). This is explained by the fact that they contribute to reducing power asymmetries (decreasing perceived interpersonal power differences: Studies 2 and 4; or increasing women's empowerment: Studies 3 and 4). Furthermore, the egalitarian (vs. paternalistic) confrontation positively impacts interpersonal and intergroup relations, and this is explained by the perception of the confronter as an ally (Studies 1, 2 and 4). We discuss the role of disadvantaged group members’ perception of advantaged group members to disentangle the complexity of alliances.

Does political partisanship extend to childhood? To what degree are children, a largely non-political population, impacted by parents’ and communities’ political orientations? We examined children's behaviours and attitudes during a politically divisive event – the COVID-19 pandemic. Children (4- to 12-year-olds; N = 313) of liberal (vs. conservative) parents reported greater preventive COVID-19 behaviours, such as mask wearing and physical distancing, and responded more positively to these health behaviours. At the community level, children living in Democratic-voting (vs. Republican-voting) U.S. counties more strongly endorsed preventive COVID-19 behaviours. Political orientation was a better predictor than education, income, religiosity, population-density, and infection rates. Mediation and moderation analyses revealed that the parent–child political link was driven by children's perceptions of their parents' guidance, behaviours, and concern about COVID-19, and that this link was attenuated in Democratic- versus Republican-voting counties. Political orientation appears to play an unexpectedly prominent role, both at the intimate family and broader community level, in determining children's behaviours and attitudes.

How do tensions between moral values predict how likely we are to receive Covid-19 vaccination? Previous work suggests that moral foundations, particularly purity and liberty, relate to decisions to vaccinate. In addition, research on the moral trade-off hypothesis suggests value in exploring trade-offs between foundations. We conducted three studies across the pandemic: at the start of the vaccine rollout (Study 1, N = 170); during delivery (Study 2, N = 328) and 2 years later (Study 3, N = 388). We find that trade-offs between purity and care and between liberty and care are predictive of higher levels of vaccine reluctance—individuals who endorse purity or liberty more, relative to care, were more reluctant towards Covid-19 vaccination, less likely to have received a vaccine and have lower intention to get future Covid-19 vaccines. This research highlights the relevance of moral values, and trade-offs between them, in vaccine attitudes and decisions.

The present research focuses on the secondary transfer effect of contact, a relatively less researched dimension of intergroup contact, on reconciliation in the context of one of the most intractable and longest surviving interethnic conflicts in Europe, the Cyprus conflict. Currently, Cyprus is home to three groups with differential social, economic and political statuses: (1) disadvantaged low-status Turkish immigrants, (2) simultaneously advantaged (relative to Turkish immigrants) and disadvantaged (relative to Greek Cypriots) Turkish Cypriots and (3) historically advantaged high-status Greek Cypriots. Across two studies (Study 1 N = 270 and Study 2 N = 501), we test whether and how Turkish immigrants’ contact with Turkish Cypriots shapes Turkish immigrants' support for reconciliation and willingness to live with Greek Cypriots via attitude generalisation. We also investigate whether Turkish immigrants’ perceived ingroup reputation qualifies this process. Controlling for the effects of direct contact with Greek Cypriots, our results show that both quantity and quality of contact with proximal Turkish Cypriots were indirectly associated with greater support for reconciliation with them and more willingness to live with Greek Cypriots via positive attitudes towards the primary (Turkish Cypriots) and positive attitudes towards the secondary (Greek Cypriots), sequentially. Moreover, we found that the perceived higher ingroup reputation across the island positively moderated the indirect effects of primary group contact on support for reconciliation and willingness to live with Greek Cypriots. That is, more contact with the primary outgroup was positively linked to greater support for reconciliation with the distal secondary outgroup Greek Cypriots when perceptions of ingroup reputation were higher.

Postulating a negative bias towards social ambiguity, we conducted cross-cultural online research to assess whether categorical discrepancies in the perception of androgynous faces were associated with the uncanny feeling and inferences of different morality. Across four studies, we found that androgynous faces were harder to classify into a binary sex category than sex-typical faces, but this difficulty did not influence social judgements of androgynous targets in a negative fashion. In Study 1 (Spanish-speaking sample, N = 76), we found that androgynous faces were rated as more trustworthy, less creepy, and less morally different than sex-typical faces. Study 2 replicated most of the findings from Study 1 in an Italian sample (N = 45). Positive bias towards androgyny was not replicated with a different set of stimuli featuring faces of diverse ethnic backgrounds (Study 3, Spanish-speaking sample, N = 140). However, results revealed a main effect of ethnicity in participants’ responses. When controlling for the effect of morphing procedures in stimuli selection, an overall positive bias towards androgynous targets arose, especially when compared to masculine targets (Study 4, Spanish-speaking sample, N = 85). These findings suggest that, at least in certain conditions, a positive social bias towards androgynous faces may emerge that does not depend on categorical uncertainty and facial attractiveness.