Journal of Applied Social Psychology最新文献

The past few decades have experienced a decline in the use of traditional news sources as an increasing number of individuals rely on social media for information. Although this change has made it easier to obtain information, individuals often selectively expose themselves to information that confirms their beliefs. The current study examined if this pattern could explain political perceptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on past research, it would be expected that liberals and conservatives would hold differing views of the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans downplayed the pandemic and were more likely to consider it a hoax, while Democrats exaggerated the pandemic and were more likely to advocate for excessive measures. In this study, we collected two samples at different points during the pandemic in which we asked participants to indicate their political ideology, their perception of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the sources of information that they trusted. Our results indicated that trust in information sources mediated the relationship between political ideology and perceptions of the pandemic, suggesting that the informational sources that an individual trusted was a factor in determining perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research examines workplace incivility through the lens of the focus theory of normative conduct, demonstrating effects of descriptive and injunctive norms on incivility perpetration. Using an experimental vignette methodology, Study 1 demonstrated that incivility intentions toward an insulting colleague were higher when organizational incivility (vs. civility) was described as both common (descriptive norm) and approved (injunctive norm). Study 2 disentangled the influences of descriptive from injunctive norms, demonstrating that each exerts an independent effect on incivility intentions. In Study 3, workers' perceptions of the descriptive and injunctive norms for incivility at their organizations predicted their uncivil intentions toward an insulting colleague—beyond the effects of other established workplace mistreatment predictors. Study 4 replicated these findings in predicting uncivil behavior frequency; additionally, job satisfaction accentuated the effects of both norm types and organizational identification amplified the effects of injunctive norms. Overall, results support key tenets of the focus theory of normative conduct, provide novel evidence for individual difference moderators of the norms' effects, and suggest that norm-based persuasive messaging interventions may hold promise for discouraging workplace incivility.

When observing others' behavior, people routinely infer personality traits from it. Research on the correspondence bias has shown that they draw these inferences even from behavior that is situationally constrained. Moreover, these inferences often happen spontaneously, that is, when people have no intention of forming an impression. The current research investigated whether the same applies for inferences of ideological categories, such as conservative, feminist, or climate change denier. We present a series of five preregistered experiments (N = 1012) employing both direct and indirect measures from the impression formation literature. In Experiments 1 and 2, we found that people deliberately, as well as spontaneously, inferred ideological categories from ideology-implying behavioral descriptions. In Experiments 3, 4, and 5, we found these inferences to be very robust, in that they persist even when alternative reasons for the ideology-implying behaviors are presented, suggesting that they are subject to the correspondence bias. We argue that to the extent that people attribute negative valence (affective polarization) or extreme attitudes (perceived issue polarization) to ideological categories, spontaneous inferences of these categories can serve as a precondition for a range of negative interpersonal outcomes related to political polarization.

We evaluate whether the feeling that all life is interconnected is associated with moral awareness of protecting the environment. We present a model in which different levels of awareness—awareness of self, other, and nature—are associated with environmental measures and moral awareness of environmental protection. Using path analysis (N = 634), we first evaluate how each level of awareness predicts the environmental measures. We then show that these associations are mediated by moral awareness of environmental protection and that moral awareness has an additional unique contribution as a predictor. Our results highlight the importance of different levels of awareness on attitudes and predispositions towards environmental protection. This research provides valuable insights into the relationship between interconnectedness, moral awareness, and environmentalism, offering a foundation for developing interventions and strategies aimed at fostering a more ecologically conscious society.

We investigated outcomes associated with different types of partisan identity in a sample of political candidates for parliament and local offices (N = 214). We distinguished partisan narcissism, a belief in the greatness of one's political party that is not appreciated by others, from partisan identification, feeling part of the party and evaluating it positively. We examined their links with self-reported measures of politicians' functioning in their work: political skill, integrity, and party dedication. Partisan narcissism was associated with lower integrity in one's political role, meaning those high in partisan narcissism reported more inclination to engage in secrecy, deception, and political blood-sport (behavior also known as politicking). Partisan narcissism did not predict party dedication: it was not associated with intentions to leave the party and volunteering in party activities, and in fact, it was linked to past membership in other political parties. Meanwhile, we found that partisan identification was associated with higher levels of political skill, while also predicting party dedication in that it predicted lower intentions to leave the party and volunteering in party activities but was unrelated to membership in other parties in the past. Cumulatively, these results suggest that partisan identification is associated with competence and dedication in politicians' work. Conversely, partisan narcissism seems to contribute to being cunning in the political arena and relates to more devious work habits that many find stereotypical of politicians.

There is some evidence that organizations with higher pay inequality have more problematic social dynamics. The present research examines whether pay inequality introduces pay-based intergroup dynamics and shapes the stereotypes of the highest- and lowest-paid employees in the workplace. In two studies (a cross-sectional survey N = 413, and an experiment N = 286), we found that greater pay inequality (actual or perceived) strengthened perceptions that the highest-paid employees were assertive and the lowest-paid were not. Indirect effects analysis suggested that this could be due, in part, to the increased tendency to perceive the highest and lowest-paid employees as distinct social groups. We also found that greater pay inequality strengthened perceptions that the highest-paid (but not the lowest-paid) employees were immoral and unfriendly. Indirect effects analysis suggested this could be due, in part, to the increased tendency to assume that the highest and lowest-paid employees have negative relations. Together, our research suggests that pay inequality shapes the dynamics and stereotypes of pay-based groups in ways that could undermine organizational functioning.

Drawing upon existing theory, the current research tested whether people high on right-wing authoritarianism were predisposed to endorse prejudice in reaction to anxiety arising from the threat posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In Study 1 (N = 3009), we found that among people high on right-wing authoritarianism, pandemic anxiety predicted a stronger endorsement of prejudice toward Asian Americans, who had been (inaccurately) associated with the spread of COVID-19. Preregistered Study 2 (N = 947) addressed the methodological limitations of Study 1 and replicated these findings at a later period in the pandemic. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Contact with sexually diverse people predicts attitude transformation towards the whole group membership (i.e., the primary transfer effect) and may potentially generalize to other group memberships (i.e., The secondary transfer effect). However, the effect of contact may extend beyond this known attitudinal transformation, comprising also cognitive growth and likely impact other types of psychological outcomes or Tertiary Transfer Effect (TTE). This study used a cross-sectional design with a convenient sample of respondents of gay (N = 320) and heterosexual (N = 320) sexual orientation to test whether the relationship between contact with sexual minorities and well-being was accounted for by positive stereotype content and cognitive flexibility. Mediation analyses corroborated a small but significant indirect effect of positive stereotype content and cognitive flexibility sequentially, within the relationship between contact and well-being, both in heterosexual and gay participants. Thus, partially supporting the hypothesized TTE of contact in this sample. The study of TTE is still in its infancy, future research would benefit from exploring the effect of contact as a promising tool to promote psychological well-being in both parts involved within the social exchange. It may be profitable for anti-prejudice efforts to incorporate this generalization principle to expand the reach of inclusion programs targeting sexual minorities.

The purpose of this research was to investigate whether multicultural personality orientation as measured by the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire short form (MPQ) predicted intergroup forgiveness, decisions to forgive, revenge intentions, and avoidance intentions in the context of U.S. political conflict. We conducted three replicated studies across three different political, contextual samples. Study 1 was collected from a majority liberal, majority People of Color sample (N = 301), Study 2 was a majority liberal, majority White sample (N = 125), and Study 3 was a majority conservative, majority White sample (N = 160). Participants in these studies completed items from the MPQ short form and read a hypothetical political violence event committed against their political ingroup by a political outgroup. Overall, we found that the cultural empathy subscale of the MPQ short form was a consistent positive predictor of forgiveness even in the presence of other relevant predictors such as strength of ingroup identification and political ideology. We also performed a mini meta-analysis across our three collected studies which further supported cultural empathy as a consistent positive predictor of intergroup forgiveness.

Employee well-being is a critical consideration for organizations. It may be particularly so in the post COVID-19 era, where many still suffer from the pandemic's after-effects. We propose a novel pathway to maintain and improve employee well-being: organizational nostalgia, one's sentimental longing or wistful affection for past organizational events. We advocate that organizational nostalgia is associated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment and that telecommuting frequency (i.e., the extent to which employees work remotely) moderates this association. Additionally, we examine employees' perceptions of organizational cultural strength as an antecedent of organizational nostalgia. Findings from two studies support our theoretical proposals and offer fresh insight into how organizations could sustain their employees' well-being by leveraging organizational nostalgia.