Journal of Applied Social Psychology最新文献

Group members often view their leaders as agents of continuity because leadership can help maintain group history and core values despite inevitable changes. Previous research suggests a connection between group continuity (i.e., a sense of connection between a group's past, present, and future) and a preference for autocratic leadership. However, whether group members' perception of the current state of group continuity influences the way they perceive leaders whom they have already supported has not been investigated. In the current study, we hypothesized that self-uncertainty mediates the effect of perceived continuity on perceptions of leaders. Specifically, lowered perception of group continuity triggers self-uncertainty, which motivates people to perceive the leaders they support to be more autocratic because these leaders often provide effective means to reduce feelings of self-uncertainty. Additionally, as people might differ in their long-term desire for group continuity, we hypothesized that the desire for group continuity moderates the path from perceived group continuity and self-uncertainty. To test the hypothesized moderated mediation model, we collected data from Democrats and Republicans in the United States (N = 515) after the 2022 midterm elections. Analyses showed a significant moderated mediation effect, index = −0.02, 95% CI [−0.04, −0.002]. Specifically, perception of continuity within one's political party positively correlated with self-uncertainty, and this correlation was stronger among those who displayed greater levels of desire for group continuity. Increased self-uncertainty, in turn, positively correlated with the perception that the gubernatorial leader that one voted for during the midterm elections was autocratic.

Healthcare professionals tend to assign a lower human status to patients. We hypothesized that two mindsets are responsible for this attribution: burnout (emotional exhaustion) and work engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption in one's work). We predicted that exhaustion is negatively related to patient humanizing perceptions (Hypothesis 1), whereas engagement is positively related to them (Hypothesis 2). In addition, we formulated hypotheses on the relationship between job characteristics and humanity perceptions. Based on the Job Demands-Resources theory, we predicted that resources (e.g., performance feedback) are positively related to humanizing perceptions being positively linked to work engagement (Hypothesis 3a) and negatively linked to exhaustion (Hypothesis 3b). For demands (e.g., work overload), in contrast, they should be negatively related to humanizing perceptions, being positively linked to exhaustion (Hypothesis 4a) and negatively linked to work engagement (Hypothesis 4b). To test the hypotheses, we conducted an online survey. Participants were physicians and nurses (N = 302); a questionnaire was used. The mediation model was estimated by applying path analysis with observed variables. Findings supported the prediction that reduced humanizing perceptions are associated with care providers’ exhaustion (Hypothesis 1). No association was found between humanity perceptions and work engagement. For job aspects, resources were linked to higher humanizing perceptions through the mediation of lower exhaustion (Hypothesis 3b), whereas demands were linked to lower humanizing perceptions through the mediation of higher exhaustion (Hypothesis 4a). Findings suggest that appropriate manipulations of demands and resources may increase patient humanization and improve the therapeutic relationship.

In postconflict Kosovo and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, we investigated the relationships of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), symbolic and realistic threat with attitudes toward peace and war. We also examined the mediating role of symbolic and realistic threat in the links between RWA, SDO, and attitudes toward peace and war. In Study 1, we focused on Kosovo Albanians (N = 415) and their relationship with Serbs, and in Study 2, we focused on the relationship between Russians (N = 132) and Ukrainians (N = 102). In both studies, we found that SDO was negatively associated with positive attitudes toward peace and positively with positive attitudes toward war. RWA was positively associated with positive attitudes toward war in Study 1. Symbolic threat was negatively related to positive attitudes toward peace, and realistic threat was positively related to positive attitudes toward war in both studies. The relationship between RWA and attitudes toward peace was mediated by symbolic threat, and the relationship between RWA and attitudes toward war was mediated by realistic threat. These findings attest to the negative role of RWA, SDO, symbolic and realistic threat on attitudes toward peace and war in conflict-related contexts. We discuss potential implications for interventions that challenge negative attitudes toward peace and positive attitudes toward war in (former) adversary groups.

Individuals often lack personal control over societal threats and depend on powerful others to manage such threats on their behalf. This lack of personal control could lead individuals to derive threat evaluations from the trustworthiness of powerful others. Three cross-sectional studies (N = 1938) support this proposed interaction of trust with personal control in diverse domains (i.e., the coronavirus pandemic, the climate crisis, and farmed animal suffering). In line with the assertion that individuals evaluate uncontrollable threats by resorting to beliefs about powerful others' willingness to avert a threat, beliefs in the benevolence of governmental bodies (but no other trustees or trust attributions) drive the effects of trust on threat perceptions depending on personal control. The findings remained the same even when controlling for potential confounding variables, such as perceived knowledge, the affect heuristic, responsibility attributions, and political orientation. Furthermore, the data indicate that trust in powerful others managing a threat partially backfires in people who lack personal control by indirectly thwarting behavioral responses and policy support for managing the threat. The present findings advance the understanding of why trust predicts perceptions of threat and suggest that trust has partially detrimental consequences for managing threats that are beyond an individual's sense of personal control.

Powerholders make decisions that impact others' lives. To be effective, powerholders need those with lower power to trust them—often without the chance to establish a good interpersonal relationship beforehand. Yet, societal developments in many countries suggest that willingness to trust powerholders is eroding; this makes the (re)establishment of trust a pressing though potentially difficult endeavour. What makes it likely, then, that people are willing to spontaneously trust a powerholder they barely know? We examined the role of powerholders' expression that they see (i.e., cognitively construe) power as a responsibility (vs. an opportunity). Doing so, the present work examines the consequences of unknown powerholders' construal of power from observers' perspective for the first time and connects it with research on trust. We reasoned that people would be more willing to trust an unknown powerholder who recognizes and expresses their responsibility (vs. opportunity) as a powerholder. Five preregistered studies (N = 1196) support this prediction for willingness to trust and a downstream effect on powerholder choice in a trust-relevant context. The findings highlight how powerholders' construal of power affects observers and show that powerholders can promote others' willingness to trust them by expressing a sense of responsibility (vs. opportunity). Implications for powerholders' communication in times of distrust and populism are discussed.

The current study aims to examine the influence of group membership and cultural conceptions on the regulation of interpersonal distance (IPD) among Chinese and Italian adolescents. Two-hundred forty participants completed an online computerized version of the Interpersonal Visual Analogue Scale to assess their preferred IPD. A greater distance was found in Chinese than Italian participants. Chinese participants also chose a larger distance from outgroup than ingroup members, whereas no such tendencies were found among Italian participants. Moreover, in the Chinese group, a larger distance from the male target was chosen by females compared to male participants. Finally, all participants maintained greater distance when outgroup members approached from the back than from the front. These findings not only provide evidence that nationality and group membership impact on how individuals regulate spatial boundaries, but also offer a new lens to understand intergroup dynamics shaping social interactions among individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds.

In times of public health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a critical need for interventions that emphasize group unification. Such interventions may motivate individuals to adhere personally and collectively to health advice, enhance national solidarity, and reduce conspiratorial beliefs among members—particularly among those who may express skepticism or distrust towards science. Across three experimental studies (N_total = 1604) conducted online (Experiments 1 & 3) and in a real-world setting (Experiment 2) in Ireland and Kosovo, we assessed participants' trust in science (i.e., the extent to which they trust in science and scientists) and exposed them to one of three conditions regarding COVID-19 health advice: compliance (i.e., the majority of ingroup members comply with the health advice), non-compliance (i.e., the majority of ingroup members do not comply with the health advice), or no advice (i.e., control condition with no health advice information). Overall, the results showed that participants with low (vs. high) trust in science intended to adhere to health advice, expected ingroup members to do the same, experienced greater national solidarity, and reduced their conspiracy beliefs in the compliance condition compared to noncompliance or control conditions. Participants' feelings of national solidarity explained the observed effects. In sum, this set of experimental studies shows that compliance with health advice during a health crisis not only enhances national solidarity but also promotes adherence to health behaviors and reduces conspiracy beliefs, especially among those initially skeptical of science.

Research indicates that sometimes people rely on limited sources of information when judging a person or group. Unable to see the “whole picture,” they, usually unconsciously, often fill in missing pieces of information themselves. Ascribed and achieved status dimensions assist in the process of social perception. Drawing on recent research on intergroup helping and focusing on evaluations of potential helpers, this research investigates inferences and attributions made by observers and their willingness to offer help while considering the effects of ascribed and achieved status dimensions of the help-seeker. We conducted a pilot study and two additional studies exploring the implications of this link in real-life settings. Our findings indicate that seeking help may be viewed as a sign of insufficient effort, particularly for individuals characterized by low ascribed and achieved status dimensions, and, thus, as stigma-consistent behavior. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.

Social change can be spurred by collective action. Yet not all forms of collective action are in the name of social progress. People seeking to advance or oppose social progress can be ideologically driven to organize and push their agendas. In exploring psychological reasons for collective action, social scientists have focused mostly on social identity. Researchers have begun to study sociopolitical ideologies as another key motivator of collective action. Drawing on both collective action and sociopolitical ideology literatures, we investigate sociopolitical ideologies (right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation) as predictors of collective action across politically liberal (MeToo movement, Climate Change) and conservative (Anti-Abortion, Illegal Immigration) domains. Results from two American samples (n = 681; n = 359) show that right-wing ideologies relate to more collective action in politically conservative domains and less collective action in politically liberal domains. Between-person differences in empathy, injustice-based anger, and efficacy explain these associations.

Showing pride at work clearly communicates personal success (i.e., high competence) and boosts status; yet some evidence suggests it can also signal self-focus and insensitivity to others (i.e., low warmth). Prior scholars have proposed gender differences explain mixed findings, but with limited support. We propose that the benefit-cost tradeoff depends on the displayer's gender in conjunction with the social context of the display. We test the contextualized dual-signaling model of employee pride displays, uniquely assessing how the signaler's gender and receiver's social motives (between-person comparisons) change first-impressions of competence and warmth after one or repeated exposures (i.e., within-person comparisons). Study 1 was a 2 (signaler gender) by 2 (signal context) design obtaining judgments before and after seeing a dynamic pride display. Pride displays increased competence similarly across employee gender, but women saw significantly greater costs to warmth when displays were public (i.e., coworkers present), a violation of gender norms. In Study 2, we replicate this finding regardless of whether coworkers were collaborators or competitors (between-person), and found repeated displays increase the warmth cost for women and the competence gains for men. In Study 3, we compare the costs for women of confirming gender norms for warmth (i.e., happiness display) or violating gender norms for warmth but conforming to leader norms for competence (i.e., pride display). Results suggest “happy” women are preferred as leaders over “proud” women despite higher competence. We clarify mixed findings and confirm the need for contextualized theory to understand gender differences in pride displays and career trajectories.