Journal of Applied Social Psychology最新文献

There is evidence that engagement with tangible heritage is linked to improvements in well-being. However, experimental tests of this association, as well as theoretical accounts explaining this relationship, are lacking. The present study aims to compensate for this gap by developing a theoretical framework based on the social identity approach that explains the effect of community-based heritage engagement on well-being, and testing this effect in a quasi-experimental field study in the context of community test pit archeological excavations. In line with the predictions, the results demonstrate that excavation participants (but not participants in the control condition) report improvements on a number of psychological outcomes after (as compared to before) participation in a 2-day excavation program (including well-being, self-efficacy, and perceived community support). The findings offer implications for community-based approaches to enhancing well-being, as well as the practice of conducting community-based archeological excavations.

Highly stigmatized groups, such as those experiencing homelessness, commonly encounter both animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization. Yet, how and when each form is related to the treatment of such groups is not well understood. We explored the relative importance of animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization in predicting behaviors to avoid and willingness to help individuals experiencing homelessness. Additionally, we probed social justice importance and engagement as potential moderators of the relationship between dehumanization and behavior. Study 1 demonstrated that animalistic dehumanization was a more significant predictor of avoidant behaviors than mechanistic dehumanization. Notably, social justice motivations moderated this relationship such that when individuals were low in social justice motivations, avoidance was high irrespective of dehumanizing attitudes. Study 2 aimed to replicate these findings in a more general sample with attention to a new outcome variable—intentions to help individuals experiencing homelessness. Results again demonstrated that animalistic dehumanization was a stronger predictor of behavior than mechanistic dehumanization. Unlike Study 1, social justice motivations did not moderate the relationship between dehumanization and intentions to help. Rather, social justice importance was a stronger predictor of variance in willingness to help than dehumanizing attitudes. Together, our findings suggest that the personal importance of social justice issues may be just as vital as reducing negative attitudes to increase positive engagement with individuals experiencing homelessness and potentially others who belong to similarly dehumanized groups.

A large number of studies support the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing public stigma, which has numerous deleterious effects on the lives of people with mental illness. Missing from research literature, however, is an examination of intervention characteristics which may enhance their effectiveness. Drawing from the broader literature concerned with changing perceptions of social outgroups, the present research program explores the role of exemplar typicality—the degree to which the characteristics of outgroup members who participants read about or interact with adhere to stereotypes about their group. Scholars have arrived at divergent conclusions regarding the level of typicality that is the most beneficial, prompting experimentation into this issue. In three studies concerned with stigma against people with mental illness, participants read about (n = 262) or had contact with (E-contact, n = 248; imagined contact, n = 506) a typical, moderately atypical, or extremely atypical exemplar. Overall, the results suggested typical exemplars to be detrimental or less effective, while atypical exemplars appeared to produce lower public stigma. But there were inconsistent findings regarding the difference between the moderately and extremely atypical exemplars. These results call for intergroup contact scholars to reexamine the claim that typical exemplars are ideal, given their potential to aggravate biases toward some vulnerable social groups. The findings also suggest that organizations implementing prevalent interventions such as contact and personal narratives to reduce mental health stigma should carefully attend to the characteristics of the outgroup exemplars involved.

The investigation of how social distance affects psychological phenomena has relied mostly on comparisons between strangers and acquaintances. Such an operationalization suffers from a confound between social distance and acquaintance. We propose an experimental paradigm that manipulates social distance while avoiding the aforementioned confound. By relying on reciprocity and known social tie formation mechanisms, the Interaction Game provides researchers with a powerful tool for the investigation of social distance effects without inducing negative affective or emotional states. Four preregistered experiments demonstrate the internal and external validity of the paradigm. The capability of manipulating social distance in a targeted manner constitutes a critical step towards advancing our knowledge of the impact of such metrics on human cognition and behavior. Moreover, Experiment 4 demonstrates that the Interaction Game can induce social distance that is free of acquaintanceship, and that such a minimal manipulation is sufficient for inducing close-other favoritism in a social discounting task. These findings expand our understanding of social distance as a powerful mechanism underlying social judgments and behaviors.

People have conflicting opinions on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), from disagreements about the vaccine's effectiveness to competing claims about the need for restrictions. The present two studies (Ns = 262 and 250) examined whether COVID-19 beliefs had a confirmatory impact on how belief-relevant scientific research is evaluated and whether the use of corrective strategies (counter explanation and consider the opposite) reduces this bias. While biased assimilation (belief-consistent studies were evaluated more positively than belief-inconsistent studies) and perceived attitude polarization (participants reported that their beliefs became more extreme) effects were strong and consistent, evidence for overcoming these biases was mixed. Whereas considering the opposite had a corrective effect on biased assimilation and perceived attitude polarization, counter explanation depolarized actual attitude change.

In recent years, anti-immigration movements have emerged and aim to gain the attention and support of the public. In two studies (Study 1, N = 775, student sample; Study 2, N = 500, non student sample) we investigated the role of positive and negative intergroup contact to predict support for anti-immigration movements from native Germans in a context of a recent intergroup conflict. Using path analysis, we analyzed the mediating processes of threat perceptions for the intentions to engage in collective action against immigration policies and the justification of the protests. Extending previous research on collective action, intergroup contact and threat, we further tested the moderating role of the identification with Germany. Findings from both studies supported the predictive power of intergroup contact as well as the mediating role of threat for collective action intentions and the justification of protests. Our results suggest that behavioral support was predicted by a strong identification with the threatened ingroup, whereass passive support was not. These findings highlighting the role importance of identification for movement support.

Previous research has demonstrated that conservative individuals (relative to liberal individuals) were less likely to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines (e.g., social distancing). We argue that because adherence to COVID-19 guidelines was largely characterized as “politically correct” behavior, individuals opposed to political correctness (PC) norms would follow COVID-19 guidelines less, controlling for political conservatism and other relevant demographic variables. In two correlational studies and one preregistered experiment, we tested whether opposition to political correctness (OPC) predicts less adherence to COVID-19 guidelines. Study 1 showed that OPC correlates negatively with mask-wearing and social distancing, controlling for conservatism, gender, age, and religious identity. Study 2 replicated and extended these effects, demonstrating that seeing mask-wearing as a common good (i.e., as a beneficial COVID-19 mitigation strategy) mediated the relationship between OPC and mask-wearing, social distancing, handwashing, and vaccination intentions. Study 3 experimentally manipulated feelings toward PC. Inconsistent with our preregistered hypothesis but consistent with previous research, participants induced to have positive feelings toward PC adhered to COVID-19 guidelines the most and had the most positive feelings toward wearing masks. We discuss how moralization of health guidelines can predict individuals' likelihood of adhering to these guidelines. We also discuss how best to persuade individuals who see adherence to health guidelines as “politically correct,” as well as future research directions to address this concern.

This research investigated the effects of a single exposure to media content of a distinct valence and mass-mediated contact with a distant minority outgroup on feelings/attitudes toward a local outgroup. Experimental Study 1 was conducted among 314 Israeli Jews. The findings of Study 1 showed the effects of a single exposure to positive and negative media items about asylum seekers in Europe on perceived threats posed by them. In this study we did not find a carry-over effect of single-exposure to a media item about asylum seekers in Europe on feelings toward the local outgroup—asylum seekers in Israel. Study 2 was conducted through an online survey among 1039 Israeli Jews. It showed the effect of recurring mass-mediated contact with asylum seekers in Europe on perceived threats posed by them. Both Study 1 and Study 2 found carry-over effects of realistic and symbolic threats from asylum seekers in Europe on feelings/attitudes toward asylum seekers in Israel. The findings of Study 2 also showed a carry-over effect of positive mass-mediated contact with a distant outgroup on attitudes toward a local outgroup. Based on the findings, we conclude that the positive media framing of distant outgroups may promote tolerance and acceptance of local outgroups.

Intergroup status relations are in a constant flux, and groups monitor and pay attention to not only their own status as active and distinctive entities to ensure survival but also monitor the status and vitality of rival outgroups that are viewed as a threat to ingroup status. This study, set within the context of Indian religious intergroup relations, examines whether perceived outgroup vitality and status are associated with uncertainty about the ingroup's future and whether heightened uncertainty is associated with greater preference for leadership rhetoric that highlights ingroup collective victimhood and suffering. Indian Hindu (N = 163) participants recruited through MTurk completed measures of religious identification, outgroup vitality, and future uncertainty and were randomly assigned to read either a victimhood message or a pro-diversity message by a prospective leader. Uncertainty about the ingroup's future mediated the relationship between outgroup vitality and leader support; leader speech moderated the relationship between uncertainty and leader support, such that under high uncertainty a leader who used victimhood speech was preferred. Implications for the ways in which leaders can gain influence by emphasizing subgroup suffering given the context of existential ingroup uncertainty is discussed.

Slavery, in the form of 'debt-bondage', is rife in Indian brick kilns, where the enforcement of labour laws is poor. Working equids support brick-kiln workers by transporting raw bricks into the kilns, but the situation of equids and their owners within the brick kilns is relatively unknown. We describe the welfare of donkeys (Equus asinus) owned under conditions of debt-bondage, examine the links between owner and donkey behaviour, and outline the living conditions of both donkeys and humans working in the brick kilns of Gujarat, India. We then explore the unique experience of debt-bondage by donkey owners, compare migration trends to those of non-donkey-owning workers and assess impacts on their children's education. The physical and behavioural conditions of donkeys reflected that of their owners, creating negative feedback loops and potentially reducing productivity. All donkey owners experienced debt-bondage and were particularly vulnerable to unexpected financial loss. Donkey owners, unlike non-owners, migrated within their home state, enabling their children to attend school. Our work highlights the need for policy reform within the brick-kiln industry to acknowledge the pivotal role of working donkeys in supporting human livelihoods.