British journal of psychology最新文献

Misophonia is a disorder involving sensitivity to certain sounds and related stimuli. Here, we explore the relationship between misophonia and affective flexibility, which describes cognitive shifting abilities in the face of emotion-evoking stimuli. The secondary aim of this study is to test the potential association between misophonia and cognitive flexibility, building upon findings from previous research. The third objective is to examine the relationship between misophonia and rumination. One hundred and forty participants completed the Memory and Affective Flexibility Task (MAFT), designed to assess affective flexibility, as well as a battery of self-report measures to evaluate misophonia severity, cognitive flexibility, and rumination. Results suggested an inverse relationship between affective flexibility as measured by switch accuracy, but not reaction time, and misophonia severity. Cognitive flexibility was also inversely associated with misophonia severity, but was not attributed to task-based affective flexibility, suggesting two independent constructs both involved in misophonia manifestation. Rumination associated positively with misophonia severity and inversely with cognitive flexibility, but not affective flexibility. Taken together, these findings highlight a unique cognitive profile of misophonia, characterized by rigidity at the psychological level through cognitive inflexibility and rumination, as well as at the executive function level in terms of affective switching difficulties.

This study investigated factors associated with post-traumatic growth (PTG) after severe traumatic societal events. Utilizing a quota-representative sample of 931 Israeli Jews, we assessed individual and community PTG following the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, alongside a range of factors guided by Bronfenbrenner's Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model. Using data-driven techniques, we identified three distinct growth profiles: relatively high individual and collective PTG (n = 354), high PTG on all dimensions (n = 273), and secular growth showing high PTG in general but not in spiritual terms (n = 322). Higher levels of religious identification, involvement, and coping, altruistic behaviour, social support, optimism, and mindfulness, as well as lower levels of pessimism, were found in the group(s) with the highest PTG. This research highlights the potentially high societal resilience reported after a large-scale traumatic event, identifying factors that may be tested for their potential to maximize growth in the aftermath of trauma.

In this pre-registered experiment conducted in the Netherlands and Türkiye (N_total = 550), we investigated how the source of advice (peer vs. expert) influences people's decision-making when assessing the carbon footprint of a flight between two cities. We also examined whether this effect was influenced by their conspiracy mentality, collective narcissism, epistemic individualism, and climate change scepticism. Our findings suggest that people overall rely more on experts' advice than peers', especially in the Netherlands compared with Türkiye. Moreover, individuals high in conspiracy beliefs, epistemic individualism, and collective narcissism reduced the weight advantage typically given to expert advice over peer advice. Only a specific form of climate change scepticism (i.e., trend scepticism) showed similar effects. Overall, our results indicate that individuals who value their own opinion and harbour distrust towards experts or science tend to discount expert advice.

Prebunking can be used to pre-emptively refute conspiracy narratives. We developed a new approach to prebunking - fighting fire with fire - which introduces a plausible 'meta-conspiracy' suggesting that conspiracy theories are deliberately spread as part of a wider conspiracy. In two preregistered intervention studies, prebunking specific COVID-19 vaccine (Study 1, N = 720) and climate change (Study 2, N = 1077) conspiracy theories (e.g. that climate change is a hoax), with or without this meta-conspiracy framing, did not reduce beliefs in these specific conspiracy theories. However, some notable findings emerged. First, both fighting fire with fire and standard prebunking (Study 2) increased belief in plausible meta-conspiracies that questioned the original specific conspiracy theories. Second, across both studies, specific conspiracy beliefs negatively predicted behavioural intentions, while beliefs in meta-conspiracies positively predicted them. Third, specific conspiracy beliefs were negatively related to belief in plausible meta-conspiracies in both intervention studies (cf: Pilot Study). While this approach did not reduce specific conspiracy beliefs, it increased beliefs that were negatively associated with them and which were positively linked to behavioural intentions. We discuss these null effects and their implications for effective prebunking among conspiracy believers.

This study examines the evolving experiences of “aloneness” in first-time mothers during their transition to motherhood. While the term is often used to describe new mothers' experiences, it tends to blur distinct yet overlapping constructs such as solitude, loneliness, and social isolation. Study 1 involved qualitative interviews with 22 mothers, revealing three themes: the ambivalent companionship of a baby, the multifaceted nature of post-motherhood aloneness, and a shift in priorities that diminished both the quantity and quality of solitude. Although mothers often spent more time physically alone, solitude free from caregiving demands became scarce, contributing to increased loneliness and isolation. Time alone with a baby was perceived variably, depending on interaction level and caregiving demands. Study 2 analysed one-week Ecological Momentary Assessment data from 47 new mothers, tracking daily activities and emotional well-being. Personal time (time spent for oneself) and social time were both linked to improved mood. These findings highlight the challenges of accessing restorative time when under sustained emotional and cognitive demands. Beyond early parenthood, this study extends solitude research by providing empirical evidence that subjective solitude is shaped not only by social presence or absence but also by the psychological load imposed by social demands.

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to humanity, necessitating immediate action to combat its consequences. Although there is a nearly unanimous scientific consensus that climate change is human-caused, misinformation doubting its causes continues to circulate widely. In this study, we test the Gateway (mis)Belief Model (GmBM) which assumes that misinformation affects perceived scientific consensus negatively, which then cascades down to lower support for public action to mitigate climate change via changes in key beliefs about the issue. We present a reanalysis of data from two online studies in which U.S. participants (N₁ = 207, N₂ = 755) were exposed to misinformation using a pre-post mixed design manipulating assessments of the scientific consensus on climate change. Results showed that misinformation indeed leads to lower estimations of scientific consensus, which cascade down to lower support for public action via corresponding beliefs. However, the pattern of significance of direct effects did not exactly replicate those in the original GBM, though misinformation still had negative direct (Experiments 1-2) and indirect effects (Experiment 2) on several downstream climate outcomes. These findings are further affirmed by an internal meta-analysis. Overall, this study highlights the negative impact of misinformation on climate attitudes and policy support.

This study examined the longitudinal relationship between family socioeconomic status (family SES) and students' academic achievement through learning anxiety-learning engagement profiles and the moderating role of negative parenting styles. Using longitudinal data from 425 Chinese primary students (200 boys, M_age = 9.73 ± 0.86 years old) across three seasons (winter, spring and summer) with three-month intervals, latent profile analysis identified three learning anxiety-learning engagement profiles: “High Anxiety-Low Engagement”, “High Anxiety-Moderate Engagement” and “Low Anxiety-High Engagement”. Mediation analysis revealed that, compared to the “Low Anxiety-High Engagement” group, the “High Anxiety-Moderate Engagement” group significantly mediated the relationship between family SES and academic achievement. Additionally, negative parenting styles moderated the association between family SES and learning anxiety-learning engagement profiles. These findings support both the family stress and investment models, suggesting that interventions should be tailored to families with differing SES levels.

Previous research has shown that the concept of self is malleable and can be associated with various arbitrary stimuli. This study explored whether the self could be linked to images of food representative of one's own or a different culture. We compared two groups, Italian and Japanese individuals, whose cultures are both characterized by rich and distinctive food traditions. Participants performed a perceptual matching task, associating themselves with either Italian or Japanese food, depending on the block. They also reported their food habits and preferences. The findings revealed that, in both groups, the self could extend to include food stimuli from both cultural categories. However, the self was more strongly associated with food typical of the participant's own culture. Additionally, this association was unrelated to reluctance to try unfamiliar foods, as measured by the Food Neophobia Scale. These results underscore the central role of food in shaping personal identity, supporting the hypothesis of a modulatory effect of valence on the strength of self-association with arbitrary items and suggesting that self-related food associations may influence food preferences.

Rags-to-riches narratives are inspiring; however, they may inadvertently perpetuate the meritocratic myth, particularly in contexts of low social mobility. Across five studies, we demonstrate that self-made upward mobility narratives increase people's meritocratic beliefs and motivate them to exert greater effort, especially in low mobility contexts. Watching such narratives is positively associated with meritocratic beliefs in low social mobility conditions (Pilot Study). Recalling such a narrative (Study 1), being exposed to these narratives in a fictitious society (Study 2) or encountering them in specific scenarios from a first-person (Study 3a) or third-person perspective (Study 3b), leads participants to engage in system justification, blame failure and accept or legitimize exploitation through meritocratic beliefs in low mobility contexts. Interpreting such narratives in a non-meritocratic way can mitigate these effects (Study 4). In summary, we uncover a rather small but robust effect: Even and especially in low mobility contexts, exposure to self-made upward mobility narratives strengthens individuals' belief in the power of personal effort. This, in turn, prompts them to justify the system and push themselves harder.