Pub Date : 2025-08-04DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104812
Yidan Yin , Gil Appel , Cheryl Jan Wakslak
People face a myriad of daily decisions about how to communicate, especially in today's digital world. We consider the decision to use exclamation points as a window into how men and women navigate the mundane choices that guide so much of their day to day communication. Across five studies, our findings suggest that exclamation point usage is associated more with women than with men, that these normative expectations are impactful, and that women – who are more sensitive to potential downstream impression formation implications of using exclamation points – think about this issue more than men and are more uncertain of their exclamation point usage. We further find that the decision to use exclamations does indeed shape social perception, leading to more positive impressions overall but also some negative concerns; however, we do not find evidence that these effects are moderated by communicator gender. Our findings provide insight into how men and women engage in everyday communication in the face of normative expectations related to gender and shed light on the unexpected burdens that this can create.
{"title":"Nice to meet you.(!) Gendered norms in punctuation usage","authors":"Yidan Yin , Gil Appel , Cheryl Jan Wakslak","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104812","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104812","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>People face a myriad of daily decisions about how to communicate, especially in today's digital world. We consider the decision to use exclamation points as a window into how men and women navigate the mundane choices that guide so much of their day to day communication. Across five studies, our findings suggest that exclamation point usage is associated more with women than with men, that these normative expectations are impactful, and that women – who are more sensitive to potential downstream impression formation implications of using exclamation points – think about this issue more than men and are more uncertain of their exclamation point usage. We further find that the decision to use exclamations does indeed shape social perception, leading to more positive impressions overall but also some negative concerns; however, we do not find evidence that these effects are moderated by communicator gender. Our findings provide insight into how men and women engage in everyday communication in the face of normative expectations related to gender and shed light on the unexpected burdens that this can create.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 104812"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144766795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-31DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104810
Trystan Loustau, Helen Padilla Fong, Liane Young
When people learn of a transgressive act, their judgments of moral wrongness and assignments of punishment often reflect intergroup bias; they respond more harshly to outgroup transgressions than ingroup transgressions. Prior work shows that individuals with stronger ingroup identity exhibit greater intergroup bias. In the present work, we investigated how social identity complexity, the relationships between one's ingroup identity and their other social identities, influence this bias. Individuals with tightly overlapping identities, indicative of low identity complexity, tend to display greater outgroup prejudice. Across four studies (N = 2215), we found that individuals with high social identity complexity judge outgroup transgressors less harshly. These effects were driven by more individualized impressions of transgressors, weaker ingroup attachment, and reduced group conflict avoidance, suggesting that social identity complexity mitigates cognitive and motivational bases of intergroup bias.
{"title":"Social identity complexity mitigates outgroup derogation in moral judgment","authors":"Trystan Loustau, Helen Padilla Fong, Liane Young","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104810","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104810","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>When people learn of a transgressive act, their judgments of moral wrongness and assignments of punishment often reflect intergroup bias; they respond more harshly to outgroup transgressions than ingroup transgressions. Prior work shows that individuals with stronger ingroup identity exhibit greater intergroup bias. In the present work, we investigated how social identity complexity, the relationships between one's ingroup identity and their other social identities, influence this bias. Individuals with tightly overlapping identities, indicative of low identity complexity, tend to display greater outgroup prejudice. Across four studies (<em>N</em> = 2215), we found that individuals with high social identity complexity judge outgroup transgressors less harshly. These effects were driven by more individualized impressions of transgressors, weaker ingroup attachment, and reduced group conflict avoidance, suggesting that social identity complexity mitigates cognitive and motivational bases of intergroup bias.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 104810"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144739298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-30DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104805
Anurada U. Amarasekera, Kelton L. Travis, Kristina K. Castaneto, Tiara A. Cash, Lara B. Aknin
Prosociality confers benefits to those who engage in the behavior, as well as those who receive it. So, how can prosociality, especially repeated acts of giving, be encouraged? Past research shows that receiving an expression of gratitude can promote prosocial behavior. However, existing work has focused on the benefits of receiving gratitude in comparison to receiving nothing, thereby leaving the content of gratitude expressions unexamined. Drawing upon past research demonstrating the benefits of identity-relevant appeals, we compare how two different gratitude expressions – one that references an individual's kind personality (i.e., prosocial character) and another that references an individual's kind actions (i.e., prosocial action) – impact future prosocial behavior in comparison to each other and to a no-gratitude control condition using two high-powered pre-registered studies. In both studies, participants (603 undergraduate students in Experiment 1; 876 online adult sample in Experiment 2) engaged in a prosocial task and were then randomly assigned to receive one of two gratitude expressions or a no-gratitude control condition. Afterwards, participants had the opportunity to help again. Comparing helping rates across conditions we found no significant differences among helping behavior in Experiment 1. However, in Experiment 2, results indicated that individuals who received an expression of gratitude, regardless of content, donated more than individuals that solely received an acknowledgement of their help. We interpret these findings as mixed support for gratitude's function as a moral reinforcer and consider why gratitude expressions referencing an individual's generous character vs. action may have had little impact.
{"title":"What types of gratitude expressions promote prosocial behavior?: A registered report","authors":"Anurada U. Amarasekera, Kelton L. Travis, Kristina K. Castaneto, Tiara A. Cash, Lara B. Aknin","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104805","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104805","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prosociality confers benefits to those who engage in the behavior, as well as those who receive it. So, how can prosociality, especially repeated acts of giving, be encouraged? Past research shows that receiving an expression of gratitude can promote prosocial behavior. However, existing work has focused on the benefits of receiving gratitude in comparison to receiving nothing, thereby leaving the content of gratitude expressions unexamined. Drawing upon past research demonstrating the benefits of identity-relevant appeals, we compare how two different gratitude expressions – one that references an individual's kind personality (i.e., <em>prosocial character</em>) and another that references an individual's kind actions (i.e., <em>prosocial action</em>) – impact future prosocial behavior in comparison to each other and to a no-gratitude control condition using two high-powered pre-registered studies. In both studies, participants (603 undergraduate students in Experiment 1; 876 online adult sample in Experiment 2) engaged in a prosocial task and were then randomly assigned to receive one of two gratitude expressions or a no-gratitude control condition. Afterwards, participants had the opportunity to help again. Comparing helping rates across conditions we found no significant differences among helping behavior in Experiment 1. However, in Experiment 2, results indicated that individuals who received an expression of gratitude, regardless of content, donated more than individuals that solely received an acknowledgement of their help. We interpret these findings as mixed support for gratitude's function as a moral reinforcer and consider why gratitude expressions referencing an individual's generous character vs. action may have had little impact.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 104805"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144722997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-29DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104783
Benjamin Buttlar , Anna Lambrich , Linda McCaughey , Iris K. Schneider
People regularly have to navigate decisions about which they feel ambivalent, for instance, regarding unhealthy food, recycling, or financial investments. It is assumed that people cope with such felt ambivalence by seeking information that sways their ambivalent attitudes (potential ambivalence) about these topics. However, empirical evidence for this proposition is scarce because most studies measure information seeking intentions instead of behavior. As such, it remains doubtful whether information seeking indeed helps people to reduce felt ambivalence while making decisions. To test this proposition, we adapted a sample-based information seeking paradigm that enabled us to measure actual information seeking behavior in financial decisions. In four preregistered studies (total N = 542 participants; k = 16.538 decisions), we demonstrated that when people feel ambivalent about an initial set of information about a stock, they seek more information about its development to decide whether it develops positively or negatively; this information seeking, in turn, helps them to reduce felt ambivalence when making the decision. However, this is only the case when the initial information is ambivalent and the sought information is univalent; otherwise, information seeking increases felt ambivalence. This supports a central proposition in ambivalence research, indicating that people can indeed solve their felt ambivalence through information seeking. However, our data also showed that the effect of information seeking on felt ambivalence cannot be fully explained by changes in potential ambivalence and a resolution of the attitudinal basis of the conflict. Future research should, therefore, examine whether and how information seeking can also serve as an emotion-focused coping strategy that helps people reduce felt ambivalence by coping with conflict-induced discomfort.
{"title":"Too much information? A systematic investigation of the antecedents and consequences of ambivalence-induced information seeking behavior","authors":"Benjamin Buttlar , Anna Lambrich , Linda McCaughey , Iris K. Schneider","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104783","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104783","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>People regularly have to navigate decisions about which they feel ambivalent, for instance, regarding unhealthy food, recycling, or financial investments. It is assumed that people cope with such felt ambivalence by seeking information that sways their ambivalent attitudes (potential ambivalence) about these topics. However, empirical evidence for this proposition is scarce because most studies measure information seeking intentions instead of behavior. As such, it remains doubtful whether information seeking indeed helps people to reduce felt ambivalence while making decisions. To test this proposition, we adapted a sample-based information seeking paradigm that enabled us to measure actual information seeking behavior in financial decisions. In four preregistered studies (total <em>N</em> = 542 participants; <em>k</em> = 16.538 decisions), we demonstrated that when people feel ambivalent about an initial set of information about a stock, they seek more information about its development to decide whether it develops positively or negatively; this information seeking, in turn, helps them to reduce felt ambivalence when making the decision. However, this is only the case when the initial information is ambivalent and the sought information is univalent; otherwise, information seeking increases felt ambivalence. This supports a central proposition in ambivalence research, indicating that people can indeed solve their felt ambivalence through information seeking. However, our data also showed that the effect of information seeking on felt ambivalence cannot be fully explained by changes in potential ambivalence and a resolution of the attitudinal basis of the conflict. Future research should, therefore, examine whether and how information seeking can also serve as an emotion-focused coping strategy that helps people reduce felt ambivalence by coping with conflict-induced discomfort.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 104783"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144722003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-29DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104794
Linda X. Zou , Samuel Ngum
A sense of similar disadvantage is crucial to fostering solidarity between people of color. But although people of color share a general experience with racial discrimination, the specific nature of those experiences can vary. Using the Racial Position Model as a theoretical framework, four studies (N = 2107) examined how distinct outgroup discrimination experiences along the axes of perceived status and cultural foreignness impact perceptions of similarity between people of color. In Study 1, Asian, Black, and Latine Americans' perceptions of similarity with each other were predicted by their beliefs about outgroup discrimination. Exposure to outgroup experiences with foreignness-based discrimination increased Asian Americans' perceived similarity with Black and Latine Americans (Studies 2 & 4), while exposure to outgroup experiences with status-based discrimination increased Black Americans' perceived similarity with Asian and Latine Americans (Studies 3 & 4). Perceived similarity, in turn, predicted greater willingness to engage in collective action on behalf of the outgroup (Studies 2–4). Our findings suggest that perceptions of similarity between people of color are bolstered by the salience of outgroup experiences along the specific axis of discrimination most prominent in the ingroup's experiences. Group experiences along the dual axes of perceived status and cultural foreignness may thus be leveraged to forge stronger coalitions among people of color.
{"title":"Status- and foreignness-based discrimination experiences shape feelings of similarity among people of color","authors":"Linda X. Zou , Samuel Ngum","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104794","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104794","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A sense of similar disadvantage is crucial to fostering solidarity between people of color. But although people of color share a general experience with racial discrimination, the specific nature of those experiences can vary. Using the Racial Position Model as a theoretical framework, four studies (<em>N</em> = 2107) examined how distinct outgroup discrimination experiences along the axes of perceived status and cultural foreignness impact perceptions of similarity between people of color. In Study 1, Asian, Black, and Latine Americans' perceptions of similarity with each other were predicted by their beliefs about outgroup discrimination. Exposure to outgroup experiences with foreignness-based discrimination increased Asian Americans' perceived similarity with Black and Latine Americans (Studies 2 & 4), while exposure to outgroup experiences with status-based discrimination increased Black Americans' perceived similarity with Asian and Latine Americans (Studies 3 & 4). Perceived similarity, in turn, predicted greater willingness to engage in collective action on behalf of the outgroup (Studies 2–4). Our findings suggest that perceptions of similarity between people of color are bolstered by the salience of outgroup experiences along the specific axis of discrimination most prominent in the ingroup's experiences. Group experiences along the dual axes of perceived status and cultural foreignness may thus be leveraged to forge stronger coalitions among people of color.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 104794"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144722004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-28DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104807
Mengran Xu , Richard E. Petty
In the U.S. and around the world, the dissemination of misinformation has become a widespread issue, and efforts to correct it have faced significant challenges. Prior research on influencing strong attitudes has shown that using two-sided (vs. one-sided) messages can be more effective in producing attitude change. Although there is a long history of research examining two-sided persuasive messages, this has never been examined in the context of misinformation correction. Rather, misinformation correction messages are invariably one-sided. Across two studies (N = 869), we extend the outcome observed in the persuasion domain to the context of debunking misinformation. Study 1, focused on a widespread but incorrect political belief regarding the 2020 U.S. election, and a preregistered Study 2, examined the correction of misinformation regarding a health belief (i.e., FDA withholding cancer treatment). Both studies demonstrated that a two-sided (vs. one-sided) correction message became more effective as the strength of individuals' belief in the misinformation increased. People's openness to the two-sided correction message was driven by their enhanced appreciation of the source acknowledging their view and the source's credibility. This openness, in turn, was associated with more favorable beliefs in the correct information. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the effectiveness of using two-sided messages as a strategic tool for combating misinformation among those whose beliefs in the misinformation are strong.
{"title":"Using two-sided messages to facilitate misinformation correction for strongly held beliefs","authors":"Mengran Xu , Richard E. Petty","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104807","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104807","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the U.S. and around the world, the dissemination of misinformation has become a widespread issue, and efforts to correct it have faced significant challenges. Prior research on influencing strong attitudes has shown that using two-sided (vs. one-sided) messages can be more effective in producing attitude change. Although there is a long history of research examining two-sided persuasive messages, this has never been examined in the context of misinformation correction. Rather, misinformation correction messages are invariably one-sided. Across two studies (<em>N</em> = 869), we extend the outcome observed in the persuasion domain to the context of debunking misinformation. Study 1, focused on a widespread but incorrect political belief regarding the 2020 U.S. election, and a preregistered Study 2, examined the correction of misinformation regarding a health belief (i.e., FDA withholding cancer treatment). Both studies demonstrated that a two-sided (vs. one-sided) correction message became more effective as the strength of individuals' belief in the misinformation increased. People's openness to the two-sided correction message was driven by their enhanced appreciation of the source acknowledging their view and the source's credibility. This openness, in turn, was associated with more favorable beliefs in the correct information. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the effectiveness of using two-sided messages as a strategic tool for combating misinformation among those whose beliefs in the misinformation are strong.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 104807"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144713580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-24DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104803
Johannes Michael Lautenbacher, Immo Fritsche, Tina-Marie Hoke, Wanda Eckert
Personal control loss and crisis have been proposed to affect people's attitudes towards social change, but there is controversy about how. From an uncertainty reduction perspective (i.e., Compensatory Control Theory), people should typically reject social change under conditions of threatened personal control. From the perspective of Group-Based Control Theory, however, social change can serve as a means to restore people's sense of control through their social self (i.e., on a collective identity level). Thus, people should welcome ingroup-initiated change following threat. Integrating these perspectives, the Integrated Stage Model of Extended and Secondary Control (INSMESC) proposes that individuals initially attempt to restore control through group-based strategies – such as supporting ingroup-led change – as a form of extended primary control. Only when such group-based approaches are unavailable or appear ineffective do individuals resort to uncertainty-reducing strategies as a secondary control approach. Across three studies (N = 260, 431, 510), manipulated control threat reduced support for outrgroup-initiated change. However, the studies provided strong evidence that this effect was absent when change was driven by an ingroup. Further corroborating the primacy of group-based control, in Studies 4 and 5 (N = 219, 616), control threat even increased attitudinal support for ingroup-initiated change, but not for ingroup-led efforts to preserve the status quo. This suggests that social change is only perceived as threatening when it is not an ingroup initiative, and that it can even buffer feelings of personal control loss by highlighting the collective efficacy of a relevant social ingroup.
{"title":"Change, yes ‘we’ can: Protesting for (ingroup) and against (outgroup) change under conditions of threatened personal control","authors":"Johannes Michael Lautenbacher, Immo Fritsche, Tina-Marie Hoke, Wanda Eckert","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104803","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104803","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Personal control loss and crisis have been proposed to affect people's attitudes towards social change, but there is controversy about how. From an uncertainty reduction perspective (i.e., Compensatory Control Theory), people should typically reject social change under conditions of threatened personal control. From the perspective of Group-Based Control Theory, however, social change can serve as a means to restore people's sense of control through their social self (i.e., on a collective identity level). Thus, people should welcome ingroup-initiated change following threat. Integrating these perspectives, the Integrated Stage Model of Extended and Secondary Control (INSMESC) proposes that individuals initially attempt to restore control through group-based strategies – such as supporting ingroup-led change – as a form of extended primary control. Only when such group-based approaches are unavailable or appear ineffective do individuals resort to uncertainty-reducing strategies as a secondary control approach. Across three studies (<em>N</em> = 260, 431, 510), manipulated control threat reduced support for outrgroup-initiated change. However, the studies provided strong evidence that this effect was absent when change was driven by an ingroup. Further corroborating the primacy of group-based control, in Studies 4 and 5 (<em>N</em> = 219, 616), control threat even increased attitudinal support for ingroup-initiated change, but not for ingroup-led efforts to preserve the status quo. This suggests that social change is only perceived as threatening when it is not an ingroup initiative, and that it can even buffer feelings of personal control loss by highlighting the collective efficacy of a relevant social ingroup.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 104803"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144898311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We examined how allocentric distance between faces influences perceptions of facial gender. Indeed, faces are often observed in social contexts (i.e., with other faces) and given that social cognition functions, in part, to help people manage a complex network of relationships, it is possible that face perception is tuned to relational variables such as social distance. In the current work, we examined whether the spatial distance between faces shapes the degree to which gender judgments of a target face are contrasted from the gender of the co-present face. In three studies, pairs of faces were briefly presented, and participants were tasked with evaluating the gender of one face in the pair. We manipulated the spatial distance between faces in a pair to be “near”, “intermediate”, and “far”. In Studies 2–3, we added a pre-cue/post-cue manipulation to examine the spontaneity of social distance effects. In all studies, we observed an effect of social distance, such that gender judgments of a target face were more likely to be contrasted against the gender of the co-present face when the distance between the faces was far versus near. The results of Studies 2–3 suggest that the effects of social distance on judgments of face gender are unintentional or spontaneous in nature. Moreover, results from all studies suggest that the effects of social distance on judgments of facial gender reflect categorical concepts of distance (“near” versus “far”) rather than linear effects that increase with each increase in distance.
{"title":"Face perception in context: Allocentric distance in perceptions of facial gender","authors":"Spencer Dobbs , Lindsay Goolsby , Wesley Mysinger , Max Weisbuch","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104795","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104795","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We examined how allocentric distance between faces influences perceptions of facial gender. Indeed, faces are often observed in social contexts (i.e., with other faces) and given that social cognition functions, in part, to help people manage a complex network of relationships, it is possible that face perception is tuned to relational variables such as social distance. In the current work, we examined whether the spatial distance <em>between</em> faces shapes the degree to which gender judgments of a target face are contrasted from the gender of the co-present face. In three studies, pairs of faces were briefly presented, and participants were tasked with evaluating the gender of one face in the pair. We manipulated the spatial distance between faces in a pair to be “near”, “intermediate”, and “far”. In Studies 2–3, we added a pre-cue/post-cue manipulation to examine the spontaneity of social distance effects. In all studies, we observed an effect of social distance, such that gender judgments of a target face were more likely to be contrasted against the gender of the co-present face when the distance between the faces was far versus near. The results of Studies 2–3 suggest that the effects of social distance on judgments of face gender are unintentional or spontaneous in nature. Moreover, results from all studies suggest that the effects of social distance on judgments of facial gender reflect categorical concepts of distance (“near” versus “far”) rather than linear effects that increase with each increase in distance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 104795"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144680755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-21DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104788
Luis Marcos-Vidal , Boryana Todorova , Scott Atran , Clara Pretus
Perceived marginalization of social groups has been identified as one of the main drivers of violent extremism across countries. However, most psychological research has focused on interpersonal rather than intergroup processes to understand the link between social exclusion and aggression. We developed a new paradigm, RateME, which dissociates the effects of group rejection and personal rejection, two types of social exclusion that involve negative attention. We compared the psychological effects of group rejection with those of personal rejection using RateME as well as ostracism using Cyberball in a sample of more than 1200 UK residents. Experiencing group rejection, personal rejection, and ostracism was independently associated with increased psychological distress and state hostility, regardless of participants' degree of identification with the group. Exclusion of either type also indirectly increased group supremacist attitudes by undermining psychological needs and indirectly increased extreme intergroup attitudes by increasing state hostility. Our work reveals similar detrimental psychological effects of group-level and personal-level exclusion, highlighting group rejection as a risk factor for mental health with potential implications for violent extremism.
{"title":"Group and personal rejection are similarly linked to extreme intergroup attitudes","authors":"Luis Marcos-Vidal , Boryana Todorova , Scott Atran , Clara Pretus","doi":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104788","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104788","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Perceived marginalization of social groups has been identified as one of the main drivers of violent extremism across countries. However, most psychological research has focused on interpersonal rather than intergroup processes to understand the link between social exclusion and aggression. We developed a new paradigm, RateME, which dissociates the effects of group rejection and personal rejection, two types of social exclusion that involve negative attention. We compared the psychological effects of group rejection with those of personal rejection using RateME as well as ostracism using Cyberball in a sample of more than 1200 UK residents. Experiencing group rejection, personal rejection, and ostracism was independently associated with increased psychological distress and state hostility, regardless of participants' degree of identification with the group. Exclusion of either type also indirectly increased group supremacist attitudes by undermining psychological needs and indirectly increased extreme intergroup attitudes by increasing state hostility. Our work reveals similar detrimental psychological effects of group-level and personal-level exclusion, highlighting group rejection as a risk factor for mental health with potential implications for violent extremism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48441,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Social Psychology","volume":"121 ","pages":"Article 104788"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144680641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-16DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2025.104791
Sierra D. Peters , Jon K. Maner , Andrea L. Meltzer
Although existing evolutionary psychological research provides insight into the ultimate reproductive functions underlying long-term romantic partner preferences, such research has generally stopped short of identifying the proximate affective and motivational mechanisms that drive those preferences. Findings from three studies comprising four independent samples (total N = 2099) provide evidence that sexual desire is a proximate mechanism underlying prioritization of attractiveness in long-term partners. Sex differences and individual differences in sociosexuality were associated with prioritization of long-term partner attractiveness and those associations were statistically mediated by levels of chronic sexual desire (Study 1). Experimentally activating a state of high sexual desire increased males' and females' prioritization of attractiveness to an equivalent degree (Study 2). Experimentally reducing the relevance of sexual desire in people's mate preferences decreased prioritization of attractiveness in both males and females (Study 3). These studies integrate ultimate and proximate perspectives to provide novel insight into the role situationally activated motivational states play in shaping long-term partner preferences.
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