British journal of psychology最新文献

Three studies explore the relation between victim sensitivity—the sensitivity to being a victim of injustice – and anti-immigration attitudes and behaviour. Based on theoretical considerations and prior research, we hypothesized that victim sensitivity positively predicts anti-immigration attitudes and behaviour over and above political orientation and ideology. Results from a longitudinal study (Study 1; N = 1038), a computerized online experiment (Study 2; N = 299), and a laboratory experiment (Study 3; N = 178) provide support for this hypothesis. Studies 2 and 3 indicate that a heightened fear of exploitation mediates the effect of victim sensitivity on anti-immigration attitudes and behaviour even though attempts to scrutinize this mechanism by ‘switching off’ the psychological process were unsuccessful. We discuss methodological and theoretical implications and possible avenues for future research.

Multicultural and colourblind approaches to managing diversity are often conceptualized to be antagonistic. However, in principle, both have underlying motives for social justice, making it important to understand how they may be psychologically reconciled. In the present research, we examined dialectical thinking as an individual characteristic or condition under which people may endorse them in a conciliatory way. Across five studies (three pre-registered; N = 1899), using well-established materials that have measured and experimentally manipulated dialectical thinking, we found that individual differences in dialectical thinking were a replicable factor that moderated the relationship between colourblind and multicultural ideals. By contrast, situational priming of dialectical thinking did not reliably impact this relationship. Therefore, people with a greater propensity to view issues from multiple perspectives and to reconcile seemingly contradictory information appear more likely to take a harmonized approach to endorsing colourblind and multicultural ideals. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The present study explores whether a particular style of placebo disclosure could serve as a tool to foster a renewed trust in one's own inherent resources and elicit a meaningful placebo effect. In a motor performance task, two placebo groups received inert transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in each of four sessions along with information on its force-enhancing properties. Before the final session, one of the placebo groups was informed about the placebo, which was portrayed as a means to unleash an inherent potential. Along with force, we systematically monitored task-specific self-efficacy to test whether this variable would be differentially modulated in the two placebo groups. Compared to two control groups, placebo groups showed higher force and self-efficacy in the last session. No differences in self-efficacy were observed in the placebo groups even after revealing the placebo procedure, suggesting that the disclosure was effective in ‘safeguarding’ individuals' self-efficacy. These findings may have important implications, paving the way for the use of placebos that not only are ethically permissible but also support individuals' self-efficacy.

Uncertainty has been a central concept in psychological theories of anxiety. However, this concept has been plagued by divergent connotations and operationalizations. The lack of consensus hinders the current search for cognitive and biological mechanisms of anxiety, jeopardizes theory creation and comparison, and restrains translation of basic research into improved diagnoses and interventions. Drawing upon uncertainty decomposition in Bayesian Decision Theory, we propose a well-defined conceptual structure of uncertainty in cognitive and clinical sciences, with a focus on anxiety. We discuss how this conceptual structure provides clarity and can be naturally applied to existing frameworks of psychopathology research. Furthermore, it allows formal quantification of various types of uncertainty that can benefit both research and clinical practice in the era of computational psychiatry.

Recent work demonstrates that those who regularly play action video games (AVGs) consistently outperform non-gamer (NG) controls on tests of various cognitive abilities. AVGs place high demands on several cognitive functions and are often engaged with for long periods of time (e.g., over 2 h), predisposing players to experiencing cognitive fatigue. The detrimental effects of cognitive fatigue have been widely studied in various contexts where accurate performance is crucial, including aviation, military, and sport. Even though AVG players may be prone to experiencing cognitive fatigue, this topic has received little research attention to date. In this study, we compared the effect of a cognitively fatiguing task on the subsequent cognitive performance of action video game players and NG control participants. Our results indicated AVGs showed superior spatial working memory and complex attention abilities while showing no difference from NGs on simple attention performance. Additionally, we found that our cognitive fatigue and control interventions did not differentially affect the cognitive performance of AVGs and NGs in this study. This pre-registered study provides evidence that AVGs show superior cognitive abilities in comparison to a non-gaming population, but do not appear more resilient to cognitive fatigue.

Drawing on conservation of resources theory and job embeddedness, this study aims to investigate crossovers of positivity and negativiy between leaders and their followers with respect to work-related variables (i.e. work engagement, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction and turnover intentions). Two waves of multisource data were collected from 244 leader–follower dyads. An actor–partner interdependence model extended to mediation (APIMeM) was used to test two mediation models and examine crossovers between leaders and their followers. Findings show that negative events are positively associated with emotional exhaustion of leaders (followers), which in turn is positively associated with leaders' (followers') own turnover intention as well as that of their followers (leaders). Positive events are positively associated with work engagement of leaders, which in turn is positively associated with leaders' own job satisfaction, but not with the job satisfaction of their followers. In other words, negative events have cross-over effects, while positive events do not. In essence, we found evidence of a crossovered negativity bias. This study is unique in using a dyadic approach to analyse leader–follower crossovers with respect to job satisfaction and turnover intention. This study reveals the mediating and cross-over effects of work engagement and emotional exhaustion on the links between positive (negative) events and work outcomes.

Although the perception of justice is a core need of all individuals, the adaptive value of belief in a just world (BJW)—in everyday life and when facing severe distress—has been typically investigated in separate studies. In this article, we tested, in only one study, the possibility that BJW can be a personal resource and a coping resource. We analysed data from the European Social Survey comprised of random representative samples of 27 European countries (N = 24,776 participants). We considered distressing circumstances both at an individual level (health impairment and financial difficulty) and at a macroeconomic contextual level. The results showed that for people both facing and not facing financial or health-related distress, BJW was positively associated with well-being, supporting BJW as a personal resource. Furthermore, we found that the decrease of well-being of people facing distress, both at an individual level and at a contextual level, compared to people not facing distress, was lower for individuals with higher BJW than for individuals with lower BJW, supporting BJW as a coping resource.

In three studies with Jewish participants, we explored the consequences of intergroup conspiracy theories on those targeted. In Study 1 (N = 250), perceived Jewish conspiracy theory popularity was positively associated with intergroup threat and negatively associated with the closeness of contact with non-Jewish people. Study 2 (n = 194) employed an experimental design where Jewish participants were exposed to the idea that many (vs. few) non-Jewish people believe in Jewish conspiracy theories. A path model demonstrated that exposure to the many (vs. few) manipulation increased intergroup threat, which was then positively associated with emotional reactions. Intergroup anxiety and ingroup anger were then positively associated with avoidance, whilst ingroup anxiety was positively associated with approach tendencies. Study 3 (n = 201) used the same experimental design, and a path model revealed that conspiracy popularity increased intergroup threat, which, in turn, was positively associated with ingroup anger and anxiety. Ingroup anxiety was then associated with intentions to help ingroup members. Notably, conspiracy popularity rendered participants less likely to interact with a non-Jewish partner in a behavioural task. Our work provides evidence that conspiracy beliefs, especially when perceived to be widely held, are likely to significantly impact targeted ingroup members.