Current research in ecological and social psychology最新文献

To encourage energy conservation, some interventions refer to abstract, large-scale, and complex phenomena (e.g., climate change), while others rely on concrete actions (e.g., changing light bulbs) and consequences (e.g., saving money). Some also combine both. Mostly conducted in non-applied settings, existing studies that compare the impact of abstract vs. concrete pro-environmental interventions have yielded mixed results. Moreover, they have not documented the potential advantage, in the long term, of adding abstract information to an existing concrete intervention. With this goal in mind, we joined an intervention in which households of two neighbourhoods (N = 177) participated in an energy conservation programme encouraging and facilitating concrete energy-conserving behaviours. We randomly assigned about half of the households to a concrete-only condition (the basic intervention) and half to a condition in which we also provided abstract environmental information. Results showed that an abstract message added to a concrete intervention successfully increased the amount of attention households reported paying to energy consumption six months after the intervention, compared to the concrete-only intervention. An abstract message also had an indirect impact on energy saving behaviours six months later, through increased biospheric (environmental) values. Taken together, these results suggest that low-level construal goals, such as everyday energy saving behaviours, should be accompanied by high-level construal goals, such as limiting climate change, to increase individuals’ willingness to act for the environment.

Relations between groups are particularly sensitive in post-conflict societies where tensions persist, and reconciliation remains unlikely. The present research investigated whether believing or learning that an outgroup humanizes the ingroup (i.e., meta-humanization) enhances conciliatory attitudes and intergroup negotiations. In three studies conducted in the post-conflict context of Kosovo (N = 1,407), we investigated whether meta-humanization, in comparison to meta-dehumanization (i.e., the belief that outgroups dehumanize the ingroup) or a control condition wherein no information related to (de)humanization is provided, impacts various intergroup outcomes through the attribution of secondary emotions (i.e., the tendency to deny outgroups the capability to experience human emotions) and blatant dehumanization (i.e., the tendency to overtly or explicitly regard outgroup members as being less than fully human). Using correlational data, Study 1 revealed that blatant dehumanization, but not the attribution of secondary emotions, mediated the effect of meta-humanization on conciliatory attitudes, including support for the outgroup, openness to future contact, and feelings of peace with outgroup members. However, this pattern did not extend to intergroup negotiation, as none of the indirect effects through both the attribution of secondary emotions and blatant dehumanization were significant. Using experimental data, Study 2 demonstrated that participants in the meta-humanization condition exhibited lower levels of blatant dehumanization towards the outgroup, increased support for the outgroup, greater openness to intergroup contact, and reported feeling more at peace with outgroup members compared to those in both the meta-dehumanization and control conditions. However, participants in the meta-dehumanization and control conditions showed greater support for intergroup negotiation than those in the meta-humanization condition. Moreover, Study 2 indicated that blatant dehumanization, rather than the attribution of secondary emotions, mediated the effect of meta-humanization on all these outcomes—except for intergroup negotiations. Finally, Study 3 replicated the findings observed in Study 2 regarding the effect of meta-humanization (vs. meta-dehumanization and control) on conciliatory attitudes and intergroup negotiation while controlling for meta-prejudice. Furthermore, Study 3 revealed that both blatant dehumanization and the attribution of secondary emotions mediated the effects of meta-humanization on all these outcomes. In sum, this set of studies shows that meta-humanization promotes reconciliation, especially via reduced blatant dehumanization, but these beneficial effects do not extend to support for intergroup negotiation.

Big Five personality traits have been consistently shown to be important predictors of political differences. Other work found that political differences are related to geographical differences in personality. The present study extended existing work by examining the numbers and features of distinct personality profiles within different political regions of the United States using latent profile analysis (LPA). Across two large datasets (total N > 6,000), we found that while all regions shared similar numbers (3–5 profiles per region) and some overlapping patterns of personality profiles (e.g., well-adapted individuals), different political regions also showed unique personality profile patterns (e.g., “Worrisome Liberals”, “Rigid & Antisocial”). Overall, these results provide initial evidence suggesting that different personality profiles may exist among different political regions of the US, and offer insights on the interplay between personality, political ideology, and geographical differences.

In the current research we investigated how people deal with decisions in which they have to reject others, something that is unavoidably part of many selection procedures. Integrating insights derived from research on social exclusion and dehumanization, we argued that when people need to reject others, they dehumanize them. To study the association between dehumanization and rejecting in a real-life setting, we conducted two field studies, in which we examined the selection process in student houses, where residents can accept some prospective members, but have to reject others. As predicted, our findings showed that when people need to reject targets, they subtly dehumanize them. Moreover, dehumanizing rejected targets was related to lower rejection aversion. This suggests that when people dehumanize those they have to reject, rejection is easier.

Research on the social identity theory of leadership and identity leadership has found that group identification and related needs influence how they view leadership and leaders within groups. Inspired by these theories, three studies (and two pilot studies) investigated whether group identification relates to whether a group member wants to lead a specific group. Furthermore, the present research investigated whether this relationship still occurred after accounting for individual-level constructs related to leader emergence, such as a person's motivation to lead, leader identity, or other relevant constructs. Study 1 found that a group member's decision to pursue or decline a leadership opportunity is related to both their group identification and individual-level constructs. Study 2 found that how important a group member thought it was to pursue a leadership opportunity differed based on their group identification. Study 3 conceptually replicated this result and found support for an indirect effect: group identification influences how important it is for a person to become a leader of that group, which then increases the likelihood that they pursue a leadership opportunity within that group. This indirect effect remained after including relevant individual-level constructs. Overall, group identification indirectly relates to whether a person wants to become a leader of a specific group.

The pervasive social bias of perceiving outgroup members as less than human can contribute to discrimination and intergroup harm. Given the strong influence of our emotional states on how we perceive others, we theorized that pro-social emotions may offer a route to ameliorating ethnic outgroup dehumanization. In particular, witnessing exemplary moral acts elicits self-transcending and pro-social affective reactions referred to as moral elevation. In two experiments (N_tot =714), we examined the effect of induced moral elevation on ethnic outgroup dehumanization, relative to effects of a neutral baseline and a positive affect control condition. Dehumanization was assessed via endorsements of animalistic traits attributed to members of commonly dehumanized outgroups in the US, including Muslims and African-Americans. Across both studies, moral elevation significantly reduced dehumanization, whereas positive affect alone did not. Furthermore, Study 2 showed that the effect of moral elevation on dehumanization was mediated by a sense of superordinate identity (i.e., shared humanity). Taken together, these findings point to the power of witnessing moral acts for helping us fully recognize the humanity of others.

Waste pollution is a major global problem. Africa is particularly affected owing to infrastructural deficits and the rapidly increasing use of nondegradable materials such as plastics in everyday life. Littering is widespread in many sub-Saharan African countries and contributes to the pollution problem. Psychological research about the factors that explain littering in Africa is scarce. Therefore, we aimed at providing a deeper understanding of littering behavior, its causes, and the role of social norms in the Gambia. We applied a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured face-to-face interviews (N = 18) to explore inhabitants’ perceptions of the problem. In a reflexive thematic analysis, we identified four main themes to describe littering causes: infrastructure and facilities; awareness and education; attitude and mentality, and social norms and law. The findings suggest that littering persists because of a combination of all these factors. Yet, social norms and the societal framework play a decisive role. Initially, the present negative descriptive norm hinders change. In addition—and maybe even more importantly—a restriction of individuals` feelings of responsibility in public spaces seems to prevent the expression of social pressure against littering and therefore the desired improvement in litter control. Further research is needed to investigate how a shared sense of responsibility could be established and utilized for a cleaner and healthier environment.

This study is set forth to address two objectives first, to examine the quasi-circumplex value structure in a sample of six Middle Eastern and North-African (MENA) countries (Jordan, Tunisia, Sudan, Palestine, Egypt, and Morocco; N = 800 in each), and second, to test whether the degree of fit between individuals’ pursued values and those values (i.e., the congruence hypothesis) prevailing in their society predicts their level of wellbeing. To address the first objective, we applied multi-dimensional scaling, and to address the second objective we operationalized value congruence as the difference between people's individual value score and their country-level average, assessing the effect of value congruence by conducting response surface analysis with facets of wellbeing as outcomes and personal and reference-group value priorities as predictors. Data for this study were derived from the Arab Psychology Index (API) which applied a stratified random sampling to obtain representative samples from the participating countries in 2019-2020. Our results indicate that the theorized quasi-circumplex structure of human values could not be replicated in MENA countries and the degree and specific nature of this deviation varies between MENA countries. Study results lend support to the congruence hypothesis, and this was true across the three indicators of wellbeing deployed (flourishing, prosociality, and social relations), although the support was stronger for social relations, less so for proscociality, and least for flourishing. Insights into these findings are offered and theoretical implications of the findings to are discussed.

An evolutionary threat management approach to leadership assumes that humans have an adaptive followership psychology that responds to specific ecological threats by selecting appropriate leaders to mitigate any risks. We hypothesize that having an imbalanced sex ratio in society (with either an abundance of adult men or women) increases the support for a strong leader, because people find such imbalances threatening to themselves and to society. We tested our hypothesis with five preregistered experimental studies and one archival study. In the five online scenario studies (total N=2249), we manipulated the operational sex ratios within a fictitious country and measured both explicit leader preferences (ideal leader traits) and implicit preferences (facial cues of leaders). The results showed that a male-biased sex ratio (abundance of men) robustly increased the preference for a strong leader across all studies, but the effects of a female-biased sex ratio (abundance of women) were smaller and not consistent. Furthermore, a male-biased sex ratio in society activated the impression that society is a competitive, dangerous place. Overall, the studies enhance our understanding of the impact of an ecological factor, the sex ratio in society, on the support for political leadership.