Szücs, Anna, Katalin Szanto, Jade Adalbert, Aidan G. Wright, Luke Clark, and Alexandre Dombrovski. 2020. “Status, Rivalry and Admiration-seeking in Narcissism and Depression: A Behavioral Study.” PsyArXiv. April 23. doi:10.31234/osf.io/mxve9
Abstract: Humans seek admiration to boost their social rank and engage in rivalry to protect it when fearing defeat. Traits such as narcissism and affective states such as depression are thought to influence perception of rank and motivation for dominance in opposite ways, but evidence of the underlying behavioral mechanisms is scant. We investigated the effects of trait dominance, dimensionally-assessed narcissism, and depression on behavioral responses to social defeat in a rigged video game tournament designed to elicit rivalry (stealing points from opponents) and admiration-seeking (paying for rank). We tested an undergraduate sample (N = 70, mean age = 21.5 years) and a clinical sample of predominantly depressed elderly (N = 85, mean age = 62.6 years). Both rivalry and admiration-seeking increased with time on task and were particularly enhanced in individuals high in trait dominance or narcissism. Participants engaged in more rivalry when pitted against high-ranked opponents, a tendency accentuated by trait dominance and partially mitigated by depression. Our findings provide behavioral evidence that social dominance and narcissism manifest in increased rivalry and admiration-seeking during social contests. Depression does not suppress general competitiveness but selectively inhibits upward-focused rivalry.
Bipartisan Alliance, a Society for the Study of the US Constitution, and of Human Nature, where Republicans and Democrats meet.
Monday, August 17, 2020
The Threat of Symbolic Incompatibility Looms Larger Than the Threat of Status Rivalry: Symbolic Threat from Others Determines Feelings for Them More Than Status Threat
Bai, Max H., and Jeremy C. Simon. 2020. “The Threat of Symbolic Incompatibility Looms Larger Than the Threat of Status Rivalry: Symbolic Threat from Others Determines Feelings for Them More Than Status Threat.” PsyArXiv. August 15. doi:10.31234/osf.io/7wux6
Abstract: Evidence from three studies shows that the perceived symbolic threat from a group, more so than the perceived status threat, determines how people feel about it (i.e., how much they like the group). Study 1 shows that Whites’ perception of symbolic threat from racial minorities, but not status threat, predicts Whites’ favorability toward racial minorities. Using a 2×2 experiment, Study 2 shows that hypothetical immigrants described as capable of posing a status threat to Americans (versus not) or capable of posing a symbolic threat to Americans (versus not) are evaluated based on their potential symbolic threat, but not their potential status threat. Finally, the results from Study 2 replicated in another 2×2 experiment where American participants evaluated a hypothetical foreign country. Thus, the perceived symbolic threat from a group, more so than the perceived status threat, determines people’s overall attitude toward them.
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Realistic threat refers to the types of threat that imperil an in-group’s political and economic power, material well-being, and very existence.
Symbolic threats, meanwhile, originate from perceived differences in world values, morality, or beliefs between the in-group and out-groups. In other words, symbolic threats may portend conflict due to intangible value incompatibilities.
Abstract: Evidence from three studies shows that the perceived symbolic threat from a group, more so than the perceived status threat, determines how people feel about it (i.e., how much they like the group). Study 1 shows that Whites’ perception of symbolic threat from racial minorities, but not status threat, predicts Whites’ favorability toward racial minorities. Using a 2×2 experiment, Study 2 shows that hypothetical immigrants described as capable of posing a status threat to Americans (versus not) or capable of posing a symbolic threat to Americans (versus not) are evaluated based on their potential symbolic threat, but not their potential status threat. Finally, the results from Study 2 replicated in another 2×2 experiment where American participants evaluated a hypothetical foreign country. Thus, the perceived symbolic threat from a group, more so than the perceived status threat, determines people’s overall attitude toward them.
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Realistic threat refers to the types of threat that imperil an in-group’s political and economic power, material well-being, and very existence.
Symbolic threats, meanwhile, originate from perceived differences in world values, morality, or beliefs between the in-group and out-groups. In other words, symbolic threats may portend conflict due to intangible value incompatibilities.
There is a consistent, substantial, & replicable connection between deep‐seated pathogen‐avoidance motivations & socially conservative party preferences due to individual differences in disgust sensitivity
The Behavioral Immune System Shapes Partisan Preferences in Modern Democracies: Disgust Sensitivity Predicts Voting for Socially Conservative Parties. Lene Aarøe Michael Bang Petersen Kevin Arceneaux. Political Psychology, August 17 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12665
Abstract: While there is growing interest in the relationship between pathogen‐avoidance motivations and partisanship, the extant findings remain contradictory and suffer from a number of methodological limitations related to measurement and internal and external validity. We address these limitations and marshal the most complete test to date of the relationship between the behavioral immune system and partisanship, as indexed by which party people identify with and vote for. Using a unique research design, including multiple well‐powered, nationally representative samples from the United States and Denmark collected in election and nonelection contexts, our study is the first to establish in cross‐national data a consistent, substantial, and replicable connection between deep‐seated pathogen‐avoidance motivations and socially conservative party preferences across multiple validated measures of individual differences in disgust sensitivity and using large representative samples. We explore the relative contribution of the pathogen‐avoidance model and sexual strategies for accounting for this relationship.
Abstract: While there is growing interest in the relationship between pathogen‐avoidance motivations and partisanship, the extant findings remain contradictory and suffer from a number of methodological limitations related to measurement and internal and external validity. We address these limitations and marshal the most complete test to date of the relationship between the behavioral immune system and partisanship, as indexed by which party people identify with and vote for. Using a unique research design, including multiple well‐powered, nationally representative samples from the United States and Denmark collected in election and nonelection contexts, our study is the first to establish in cross‐national data a consistent, substantial, and replicable connection between deep‐seated pathogen‐avoidance motivations and socially conservative party preferences across multiple validated measures of individual differences in disgust sensitivity and using large representative samples. We explore the relative contribution of the pathogen‐avoidance model and sexual strategies for accounting for this relationship.
Germany: Like-minded discussions increase one’s likelihood to perceive media as hostile; yet, only among those more politically engaged & ideologically on the left
Whose media are hostile? The spillover effect of interpersonal discussions on media bias perceptions. Laia Castro, David Nicolas Hopmann and Lilach Nir. Communications, 000010151520190140, Aug 11 2020. https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2019-0140
Abstract: Since Eveland and Shah (2003) published their seminal study on the impact of social networks on media bias perceptions in the US, little has been researched about the interpersonal antecedents of hostile media perceptions. In this study we address this gap by investigating the role of safe, or like-minded, political discussions on individuals’ likelihood to perceive media as hostile. We use survey data from more than 5,000 individuals in Germany. Our findings reveal that like-minded discussions increase one’s likelihood to perceive media as hostile; yet, only among those more politically engaged and ideologically on the left. The significance and theoretical implications of the results are discussed in the concluding section.
Keywords: hostile media perceptions; interpersonal communication; ideology; survey; like-minded
Abstract: Since Eveland and Shah (2003) published their seminal study on the impact of social networks on media bias perceptions in the US, little has been researched about the interpersonal antecedents of hostile media perceptions. In this study we address this gap by investigating the role of safe, or like-minded, political discussions on individuals’ likelihood to perceive media as hostile. We use survey data from more than 5,000 individuals in Germany. Our findings reveal that like-minded discussions increase one’s likelihood to perceive media as hostile; yet, only among those more politically engaged and ideologically on the left. The significance and theoretical implications of the results are discussed in the concluding section.
Keywords: hostile media perceptions; interpersonal communication; ideology; survey; like-minded
What Processes Are Disrupted During the Attentional Blink?
Zivony, Alon, and Dominique Lamy. 2020. “What Processes Are Disrupted During the Attentional Blink? An Integrative Review of Event-related Potentials Research.” PsyArXiv. August 15. doi:10.31234/osf.io/epfbt
Abstract: Reporting the second of two targets is impaired when these appear in close succession, a phenomenon known as the attentional blink (AB). Despite decades of research, what mechanisms are affected by the AB remains unclear. Specifically, two central issues remain open: Does the AB disrupt attentional processes or reflect a structural limitation in working memory encoding? Does it disrupt perceptual processing or only post-perceptual processes? We address these questions by reviewing event-related potentials (ERP) studies of the AB. The findings reveal that the core influence of the AB is by disrupting attentional engagement (indexed by N2pc). As a consequence, while early processing (indexed by P1\N1) is spared, semantic processing (indexed by N400) and working memory (WM) encoding (indexed by P3b) are compromised: minor disruptions to attentional engagement weaken but do not eliminate semantic processing, whereas they prevent encoding in WM. Thus, semantic processing can survive the blink, whereas encoding in WM does not. To accommodate these conclusions, we suggest a Disrupted Engagement and Perception (DEaP) account of the attentional blink.
Abstract: Reporting the second of two targets is impaired when these appear in close succession, a phenomenon known as the attentional blink (AB). Despite decades of research, what mechanisms are affected by the AB remains unclear. Specifically, two central issues remain open: Does the AB disrupt attentional processes or reflect a structural limitation in working memory encoding? Does it disrupt perceptual processing or only post-perceptual processes? We address these questions by reviewing event-related potentials (ERP) studies of the AB. The findings reveal that the core influence of the AB is by disrupting attentional engagement (indexed by N2pc). As a consequence, while early processing (indexed by P1\N1) is spared, semantic processing (indexed by N400) and working memory (WM) encoding (indexed by P3b) are compromised: minor disruptions to attentional engagement weaken but do not eliminate semantic processing, whereas they prevent encoding in WM. Thus, semantic processing can survive the blink, whereas encoding in WM does not. To accommodate these conclusions, we suggest a Disrupted Engagement and Perception (DEaP) account of the attentional blink.
Observers underestimated the egocentric distances when there was a fence on the ground surface relative to the no-fence condition; the effect of widely spaced thick fences was larger than that of narrowly spaced ones
Inaccurate Space Perception Seeing Through Fences. Bo Dong et al. Perception, August 16, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0301006620946525
Abstract: According to the sequential surface integration process hypothesis, the fine near-ground-surface representation and the homogeneous ground surface play a vital role in the representation of the ground surface. When an occluding box or opaque wall is placed between observers and targets, observers underestimate egocentric distance. However, in our daily life, many obstacles are perforated and cover the ground surface and targets simultaneously (e.g., fences). Humans see and observe through fences. The images of these fences and targets, projected onto observers’ retinas, overlap each other. This study aims to explore the effects of perforated obstacles (i.e., fences) on space perception. The results showed that observers underestimated the egocentric distances when there was a fence on the ground surface relative to the no-fence condition, and the effect of widely spaced thick wood fences was larger than that of narrowly spaced thin iron fences. We further demonstrated that this effect was quite robust when the target size had a visual angle of 1°, 2°, or 4° in three virtual reality experiments. This study may add support for the notion that the sequential surface integration process hypothesis is applicable even if the obstacle is perforated and covers the target.
Keywords: space perception, the ground-surface representation, SSIP hypothesis, fences, egocentric distance perception
Abstract: According to the sequential surface integration process hypothesis, the fine near-ground-surface representation and the homogeneous ground surface play a vital role in the representation of the ground surface. When an occluding box or opaque wall is placed between observers and targets, observers underestimate egocentric distance. However, in our daily life, many obstacles are perforated and cover the ground surface and targets simultaneously (e.g., fences). Humans see and observe through fences. The images of these fences and targets, projected onto observers’ retinas, overlap each other. This study aims to explore the effects of perforated obstacles (i.e., fences) on space perception. The results showed that observers underestimated the egocentric distances when there was a fence on the ground surface relative to the no-fence condition, and the effect of widely spaced thick wood fences was larger than that of narrowly spaced thin iron fences. We further demonstrated that this effect was quite robust when the target size had a visual angle of 1°, 2°, or 4° in three virtual reality experiments. This study may add support for the notion that the sequential surface integration process hypothesis is applicable even if the obstacle is perforated and covers the target.
Keywords: space perception, the ground-surface representation, SSIP hypothesis, fences, egocentric distance perception