Disloyalty aversion: Greater reluctance to bet against close others than the self. Simone Tang et al.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, May 2017, Pages 1-13. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597816301741
Highlights
• People are more willing to bet on their own failure than a close other’s failure.
• However, they are as willing to bet on their own failure as a stranger’s failure.
• This occurs for bets that are incentive-compatible and made in private.
• Self-signaling that one is loyal underlies this tendency.
• This violates economic principles of self-interest and desire to minimize risk.
Abstract: We examine the mechanisms by which loyalty can induce risk seeking. In seven studies, participants exhibited disloyalty aversion - they were more reluctant to bet on the failure of a close other than on their own failure. In contrast, participants were just as willing to bet on the failure of strangers as on their own failure. This effect persisted when bets were made in private, payouts were larger for betting on failure than success (Studies 1-4, 6), and failure was most likely (Studies 2-6). We propose that disloyalty aversion occurs because the negative identity signal to the self that hedging creates can outweigh the rewards conferred by hedging. Indeed, disloyalty aversion was moderated by factors affecting the strength of this self-signal and the payout of the hedge, including the closeness of the other person, bettors' trait loyalty, and payout magnitude (Studies 3-5). Disloyalty aversion strongly influences social preferences involving risk.
Keywords: Disloyalty aversion, Loyalty, Hedging, Risk, Self-signaling
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Moral judgments of risky choices: A moral echoing effect
Moral judgments of risky choices: A moral echoing effect. Mary Parkinson and Ruth Byrne. Judgment and Decision Making, May 2017, Pages 236-252. http://journal.sjdm.org/15/151023b/jdm151023b.pdf
Abstract: Two experiments examined moral judgments about a decision-maker's choices when he chose a sure-thing, 400 out of 600 people will be saved, or a risk, a two-thirds probability to save everyone and a one-thirds probability to save no-one. The results establish a moral echoing effect - a tendency to credit a decision-maker with a good outcome when the decision-maker made the typical choices of the sure-thing in a gain frame or the risk in a loss frame, and to discredit the decision-maker when there is a bad outcome and the decision-maker made the atypical choices of a risk in a gain frame or a sure-thing in a loss frame. The moral echoing effect is established in Experiment 1 (n=207) in which participants supposed the outcome would turn well or badly, and it is replicated in Experiment 2 (n=173) in which they knew it had turned out well or badly, for judgments of moral responsibility and blame or praise. The effect does not occur for judgments of cause, control, counterfactual alternatives, or emotions.
Abstract: Two experiments examined moral judgments about a decision-maker's choices when he chose a sure-thing, 400 out of 600 people will be saved, or a risk, a two-thirds probability to save everyone and a one-thirds probability to save no-one. The results establish a moral echoing effect - a tendency to credit a decision-maker with a good outcome when the decision-maker made the typical choices of the sure-thing in a gain frame or the risk in a loss frame, and to discredit the decision-maker when there is a bad outcome and the decision-maker made the atypical choices of a risk in a gain frame or a sure-thing in a loss frame. The moral echoing effect is established in Experiment 1 (n=207) in which participants supposed the outcome would turn well or badly, and it is replicated in Experiment 2 (n=173) in which they knew it had turned out well or badly, for judgments of moral responsibility and blame or praise. The effect does not occur for judgments of cause, control, counterfactual alternatives, or emotions.
Hypocritical Flip-Flop, or Courageous Evolution? When Leaders Change Their Moral Minds
Hypocritical Flip-Flop, or Courageous Evolution? When Leaders Change Their Moral Minds. Tamar Kreps, Kristin Laurin & Anna Merritt. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000103
Abstract: How do audiences react to leaders who change their opinion after taking moral stances? We propose that people believe moral stances are stronger commitments, compared with pragmatic stances; we therefore explore whether and when audiences believe those commitments can be broken. We find that audiences believe moral commitments should not be broken, and thus that they deride as hypocritical leaders who claim a moral commitment and later change their views. Moreover, they view them as less effective and less worthy of support. Although participants found a moral mind changer especially hypocritical when they disagreed with the new view, the effect persisted even among participants who fully endorsed the new view. We draw these conclusions from analyses and meta-analyses of 15 studies (total N 5,552), using recent statistical advances to verify the robustness of our findings. In several of our studies, we also test for various possible moderators of these effects; overall we find only 1 promising finding: some evidence that 2 specific justifications for moral mind changes - citing a personally transformative experience, or blaming external circumstances rather than acknowledging opinion change - help moral leaders appear more courageous, but no less hypocritical. Together, our findings demonstrate a lay belief that moral views should be stable over time; they also suggest a downside for leaders in using moral framings.
Abstract: How do audiences react to leaders who change their opinion after taking moral stances? We propose that people believe moral stances are stronger commitments, compared with pragmatic stances; we therefore explore whether and when audiences believe those commitments can be broken. We find that audiences believe moral commitments should not be broken, and thus that they deride as hypocritical leaders who claim a moral commitment and later change their views. Moreover, they view them as less effective and less worthy of support. Although participants found a moral mind changer especially hypocritical when they disagreed with the new view, the effect persisted even among participants who fully endorsed the new view. We draw these conclusions from analyses and meta-analyses of 15 studies (total N 5,552), using recent statistical advances to verify the robustness of our findings. In several of our studies, we also test for various possible moderators of these effects; overall we find only 1 promising finding: some evidence that 2 specific justifications for moral mind changes - citing a personally transformative experience, or blaming external circumstances rather than acknowledging opinion change - help moral leaders appear more courageous, but no less hypocritical. Together, our findings demonstrate a lay belief that moral views should be stable over time; they also suggest a downside for leaders in using moral framings.
Pre- and Postinteraction Physical Attractiveness Ratings and Experience-Based Impressions
Pre- and Postinteraction Physical Attractiveness Ratings and Experience-Based Impressions. Jeffrey Hall & Benjamin Compton. Communication Studies, Summer 2017, Pages 260-277. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10510974.2017.1317281
Abstract: This study examines the perceptions of an interaction partner's physical attractiveness and traits in relation to whether and how partners were evaluated prior to interacting. Sixty-five pairs of heterosexual strangers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (i.e., prerate photos of opposite-sex strangers including conversation partner, prerate photos excluding partner, no prerate photos). Participants then had a 10-minute interaction, reported impressions of partner, and rated photos again including the partner. Compared to no preinteraction rating, rating conversation partners' attractiveness reduced impressions of partners' social attractiveness, fun/funniness, and charisma. Partner impressions were more strongly associated with postinteraction attractiveness ratings than preinteraction ratings. Impressions of social attractiveness and fun/funniness moderated attractiveness rating change, wherein less attractive partners showed more positive change than attractive partners.
Keywords: Impression Formation, Online Dating, Physical Attraction, Social Attraction
Abstract: This study examines the perceptions of an interaction partner's physical attractiveness and traits in relation to whether and how partners were evaluated prior to interacting. Sixty-five pairs of heterosexual strangers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (i.e., prerate photos of opposite-sex strangers including conversation partner, prerate photos excluding partner, no prerate photos). Participants then had a 10-minute interaction, reported impressions of partner, and rated photos again including the partner. Compared to no preinteraction rating, rating conversation partners' attractiveness reduced impressions of partners' social attractiveness, fun/funniness, and charisma. Partner impressions were more strongly associated with postinteraction attractiveness ratings than preinteraction ratings. Impressions of social attractiveness and fun/funniness moderated attractiveness rating change, wherein less attractive partners showed more positive change than attractive partners.
Keywords: Impression Formation, Online Dating, Physical Attraction, Social Attraction
Emotional Content in Wikipedia Articles on Negative Man-Made and Nature-Made Events
Emotional Content in Wikipedia Articles on Negative Man-Made and Nature-Made Events. Hannah Greving et al. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0261927X17717568
Abstract: Wikipedia emphasizes the objectivity of content. Yet, Wikipedia articles also deal with negative events that potentially elicit intense emotions. Undesirable outcomes (e.g., earthquakes) are known to elicit sadness, while undesirable outcomes caused by others' actions (e.g., terrorist attacks) are known to elicit anger. Internet users' emotional responses are likely to end up in Wikipedia articles on those events as characteristics of Internet users spill over to Wikipedia articles. Therefore, we expected that Wikipedia articles on terrorist attacks contain more anger-related and less sadness-related content than articles on earthquakes. We analyzed newly created Wikipedia articles about the two events (Study 1) as well as more current versions of those Wikipedia articles after the events had already happened (Study 2). The results supported our expectations. Surprisingly, Wikipedia articles on those two events contained more emotional content than related Wikipedia talk pages (Study 3). We discuss the implications for Wikipedia and future research.
Abstract: Wikipedia emphasizes the objectivity of content. Yet, Wikipedia articles also deal with negative events that potentially elicit intense emotions. Undesirable outcomes (e.g., earthquakes) are known to elicit sadness, while undesirable outcomes caused by others' actions (e.g., terrorist attacks) are known to elicit anger. Internet users' emotional responses are likely to end up in Wikipedia articles on those events as characteristics of Internet users spill over to Wikipedia articles. Therefore, we expected that Wikipedia articles on terrorist attacks contain more anger-related and less sadness-related content than articles on earthquakes. We analyzed newly created Wikipedia articles about the two events (Study 1) as well as more current versions of those Wikipedia articles after the events had already happened (Study 2). The results supported our expectations. Surprisingly, Wikipedia articles on those two events contained more emotional content than related Wikipedia talk pages (Study 3). We discuss the implications for Wikipedia and future research.
Witnessing Moral Violations Increases Conformity in Consumption
Witnessing Moral Violations Increases Conformity in Consumption. Ping Dong & Chen-Bo Zhong. Journal of Consumer Research, http://impactmap.anderson.ucla.edu/Documents/areas/fac/marketing/Ping_Dong_Job%20Market%20Paper.pdf
Abstract: Consumers frequently encounter moral violations (e.g., financial scandal, cheating, and corruption) in their daily lives. Yet little is known about how exposure to moral violations may affect consumer choice. By synthesizing insights from research on social order and conformity, we suggest that mere exposure to others' immoral behaviors heightens perceived threat to social order, which increases consumers' endorsement of conformist attitudes and hence their preferences for majority-endorsed choices in subsequently unrelated consumption situations. Five studies conducted across different experimental contexts and different product categories provided convergent evidence showing that exposure to moral violations increases consumers' subsequent conformity in consumption. Moreover, the effect disappears (a) when the moral violator has already been punished by third parties (study 4) and (b) when the majority-endorsed option is viewed as being complicit with the moral violation (study 5). This research not only demonstrates a novel downstream consequence of witnessing moral violations on consumer choice but also advances our understanding of how conformity can buffer the negative psychological consequences of moral violations and how moral considerations can serve as an important basis for consumer choice.
Abstract: Consumers frequently encounter moral violations (e.g., financial scandal, cheating, and corruption) in their daily lives. Yet little is known about how exposure to moral violations may affect consumer choice. By synthesizing insights from research on social order and conformity, we suggest that mere exposure to others' immoral behaviors heightens perceived threat to social order, which increases consumers' endorsement of conformist attitudes and hence their preferences for majority-endorsed choices in subsequently unrelated consumption situations. Five studies conducted across different experimental contexts and different product categories provided convergent evidence showing that exposure to moral violations increases consumers' subsequent conformity in consumption. Moreover, the effect disappears (a) when the moral violator has already been punished by third parties (study 4) and (b) when the majority-endorsed option is viewed as being complicit with the moral violation (study 5). This research not only demonstrates a novel downstream consequence of witnessing moral violations on consumer choice but also advances our understanding of how conformity can buffer the negative psychological consequences of moral violations and how moral considerations can serve as an important basis for consumer choice.
The effects of age, gender, and gender role ideology on adolescents' social perspective-taking ability and tendency in friendships
The effects of age, gender, and gender role ideology on adolescents' social perspective-taking ability and tendency in friendships. Kaitlin Flannery and Rhiannon Smith. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, August 2017, Pages 617-635. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0265407516650942
Abstract: Social perspective taking (SPT; i.e., the social-cognitive process of inferring another person's thoughts and feelings) is commonly thought to be essential for successful social relationships, yet the bulk of past work on the development of SPT does not consider youths' tendency to engage in SPT in the context of their close relationships. The current study of adolescents (ages 12-17, N = 158) helps move the field forward by distinguishing between adolescents' SPT ability (i.e., whether they are developmentally capable of SPT) and their tendency to apply this ability in their actual social relationships, namely, friendships, and considering the roles of gender and age. Results indicate that SPT ability and SPT tendency are distinct, suggesting that youths do not always put to use the SPT skills that they possess. Girls scored higher than boys on both SPT ability and SPT tendency. Boys and girls had significant gains in SPT ability across adolescence. Surprisingly, however, boys' SPT tendency decreased from early to later adolescence, indicating that older boys tend to engage in less SPT in their friendships despite increasing ability to do so. This is worrisome given the importance of SPT in promoting high-quality relationships. Importantly, gender role ideology predicted this tendency in boys, such that boys with more stereotypical gender beliefs tended to engage in less SPT with their friends. Thus, the current findings point to the importance of going beyond mean-level gender differences to consider gendered beliefs and suggest that interventions aimed at promoting egalitarian views may help foster SPT and successful friendships among boys.
Abstract: Social perspective taking (SPT; i.e., the social-cognitive process of inferring another person's thoughts and feelings) is commonly thought to be essential for successful social relationships, yet the bulk of past work on the development of SPT does not consider youths' tendency to engage in SPT in the context of their close relationships. The current study of adolescents (ages 12-17, N = 158) helps move the field forward by distinguishing between adolescents' SPT ability (i.e., whether they are developmentally capable of SPT) and their tendency to apply this ability in their actual social relationships, namely, friendships, and considering the roles of gender and age. Results indicate that SPT ability and SPT tendency are distinct, suggesting that youths do not always put to use the SPT skills that they possess. Girls scored higher than boys on both SPT ability and SPT tendency. Boys and girls had significant gains in SPT ability across adolescence. Surprisingly, however, boys' SPT tendency decreased from early to later adolescence, indicating that older boys tend to engage in less SPT in their friendships despite increasing ability to do so. This is worrisome given the importance of SPT in promoting high-quality relationships. Importantly, gender role ideology predicted this tendency in boys, such that boys with more stereotypical gender beliefs tended to engage in less SPT with their friends. Thus, the current findings point to the importance of going beyond mean-level gender differences to consider gendered beliefs and suggest that interventions aimed at promoting egalitarian views may help foster SPT and successful friendships among boys.
Individual Differences in Reliance on Intuition Predict Harsher Moral Judgments
Individual Differences in Reliance on Intuition Predict Harsher Moral Judgments. Sarah Ward & Laura King. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28627916
Abstract: The notion that intuition guides moral judgment is widely accepted. Yet, there is a dearth of research examining whether individual differences in reliance on intuition influence moral judgment. Five studies provided evidence that faith in intuition (FI) predicts higher condemnation of moral transgressions. Studies 1 and 2 (combined N = 543) demonstrated that FI predicted higher moral condemnation of strange actions characterized by ambiguous harm. This association maintained controlling for a host of relevant ideological and emotional "third" variables. Three experiments demonstrated this relationship to be robust in the face of manipulations. In Study 3 (N = 320), participants rated whether moral scenarios involved harm or victims prior to (vs. after) moral judgments. Although considering harm and victims prior to judgments lowered condemnation toward these actions, the manipulation did not moderate the association between FI and condemnation. FI related to moral condemnation of unconventional actions even after consideration of harm and victims. In Study 4 (N = 236), a manipulation designed to enhance deliberation lowered overall moral condemnation (vs. control group), but did not attenuate the relationship between FI and moral condemnation. In Study 5 (N = 204), participants quickly categorized actions according to whether or not they were immoral, harmful, or involved victims. FI predicted higher condemnation of ambiguously harmful actions even when these judgments were made rapidly. Implications for examining individual differences in intuition in the context of dominant theories in moral psychology (dyadic morality, Moral Foundations Theory) are addressed.
Abstract: The notion that intuition guides moral judgment is widely accepted. Yet, there is a dearth of research examining whether individual differences in reliance on intuition influence moral judgment. Five studies provided evidence that faith in intuition (FI) predicts higher condemnation of moral transgressions. Studies 1 and 2 (combined N = 543) demonstrated that FI predicted higher moral condemnation of strange actions characterized by ambiguous harm. This association maintained controlling for a host of relevant ideological and emotional "third" variables. Three experiments demonstrated this relationship to be robust in the face of manipulations. In Study 3 (N = 320), participants rated whether moral scenarios involved harm or victims prior to (vs. after) moral judgments. Although considering harm and victims prior to judgments lowered condemnation toward these actions, the manipulation did not moderate the association between FI and condemnation. FI related to moral condemnation of unconventional actions even after consideration of harm and victims. In Study 4 (N = 236), a manipulation designed to enhance deliberation lowered overall moral condemnation (vs. control group), but did not attenuate the relationship between FI and moral condemnation. In Study 5 (N = 204), participants quickly categorized actions according to whether or not they were immoral, harmful, or involved victims. FI predicted higher condemnation of ambiguously harmful actions even when these judgments were made rapidly. Implications for examining individual differences in intuition in the context of dominant theories in moral psychology (dyadic morality, Moral Foundations Theory) are addressed.
Misprediction Bias of Dating Behaviors: Do Men Overestimate or Women Underreport Their Sexual Intentions?
Decomposing the Cross-Sex Misprediction Bias of Dating Behaviors: Do Men Overestimate or Women Underreport Their Sexual Intentions? Isabelle Engeler & Priya Raghubir. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000105
Abstract: Men typically predict women's sexual intentions to be higher than women say they are (Haselton & Buss, 2000). It is debated whether this cross-sex bias is because of men overestimating women's intentions (Murray et al., 2017), women underreporting their own intentions (Perilloux & Kurzban, 2015, 2017), or both. To unify the current debate, we decompose the part of the bias attributable to women underreporting versus men overestimating by using a survey method intervention to reduce underreporting of sensitive information: eliciting estimates about others before sensitive self-reports. First, we calibrate the current measurement instrument to assess the overall size of the misprediction bias (Study 1). Then, we manipulate the order-of-elicitation of self- and other-reports (Studies 2 and 3): Women report significantly higher own sexual intentions when they are asked about other targets' intentions before their own, suggesting that 48 to 69% of the overestimation bias is attributable to women underreporting their own sexual intentions. Analogous analyses for the misprediction bias about men suggest that women's overestimation bias of men's sexual intentions is entirely because of men underreporting their own sexual intentions. The findings have important implications for the current debate in the literature on cross-sex misprediction biases and the literature on asking sensitive survey questions.
Abstract: Men typically predict women's sexual intentions to be higher than women say they are (Haselton & Buss, 2000). It is debated whether this cross-sex bias is because of men overestimating women's intentions (Murray et al., 2017), women underreporting their own intentions (Perilloux & Kurzban, 2015, 2017), or both. To unify the current debate, we decompose the part of the bias attributable to women underreporting versus men overestimating by using a survey method intervention to reduce underreporting of sensitive information: eliciting estimates about others before sensitive self-reports. First, we calibrate the current measurement instrument to assess the overall size of the misprediction bias (Study 1). Then, we manipulate the order-of-elicitation of self- and other-reports (Studies 2 and 3): Women report significantly higher own sexual intentions when they are asked about other targets' intentions before their own, suggesting that 48 to 69% of the overestimation bias is attributable to women underreporting their own sexual intentions. Analogous analyses for the misprediction bias about men suggest that women's overestimation bias of men's sexual intentions is entirely because of men underreporting their own sexual intentions. The findings have important implications for the current debate in the literature on cross-sex misprediction biases and the literature on asking sensitive survey questions.
The impact of power and powerlessness on blaming the victim of sexual assault
The impact of power and powerlessness on blaming the victim of sexual assault. Claire Gravelin, Monica Biernat & Matthew Baldwin. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1368430217706741
Abstract: Sexual assault is often described as motivated by power, yet there is relatively little experimental research investigating the effect of power (and powerlessness) on interpretations of a sexual assault. Two studies manipulated participants' feelings of power prior to a thought-listing task about sexual assault victims (Study 1) or an evaluation of a case of sexual assault (Study 2). Among men, feelings of powerlessness led to reduced victim blaming, while powerlessness tended to increase victim blaming among women (Study 2). These results indicate that powerlessness has different implications for men and women, increasing men's ability to take the perspective of a victim of sexual assault, but increasing women's sense of threat and defensiveness. Both studies support a default status explanation for men such that feelings of powerlessness - a state that deviates from men's typical high-power "default" status in society - increase perspective taking and thereby reduce victim blame. Among women, however, powerlessness may trigger a defensive response, resulting in greater blaming.
Abstract: Sexual assault is often described as motivated by power, yet there is relatively little experimental research investigating the effect of power (and powerlessness) on interpretations of a sexual assault. Two studies manipulated participants' feelings of power prior to a thought-listing task about sexual assault victims (Study 1) or an evaluation of a case of sexual assault (Study 2). Among men, feelings of powerlessness led to reduced victim blaming, while powerlessness tended to increase victim blaming among women (Study 2). These results indicate that powerlessness has different implications for men and women, increasing men's ability to take the perspective of a victim of sexual assault, but increasing women's sense of threat and defensiveness. Both studies support a default status explanation for men such that feelings of powerlessness - a state that deviates from men's typical high-power "default" status in society - increase perspective taking and thereby reduce victim blame. Among women, however, powerlessness may trigger a defensive response, resulting in greater blaming.
Resisting Temptation for the Good of the Group: Binding Moral Values and the Moralization of Self-Control
Resisting Temptation for the Good of the Group: Binding Moral Values and the Moralization of Self-Control. Marlon Mooijman et al. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28604018
Abstract: When do people see self-control as a moral issue? We hypothesize that the group-focused "binding" moral values of Loyalty/betrayal, Authority/subversion, and Purity/degradation play a particularly important role in this moralization process. Nine studies provide support for this prediction. First, moralization of self-control goals (e.g., losing weight, saving money) is more strongly associated with endorsing binding moral values than with endorsing individualizing moral values (Care/harm, Fairness/cheating). Second, binding moral values mediate the effect of other group-focused predictors of self-control moralization, including conservatism, religiosity, and collectivism. Third, guiding participants to consider morality as centrally about binding moral values increases moralization of self-control more than guiding participants to consider morality as centrally about individualizing moral values. Fourth, we replicate our core finding that moralization of self-control is associated with binding moral values across studies differing in measures and design - whether we measure the relationship between moral and self-control language across time, the perceived moral relevance of self-control behaviors, or the moral condemnation of self-control failures. Taken together, our findings suggest that self-control moralization is primarily group-oriented and is sensitive to group-oriented cues.
Abstract: When do people see self-control as a moral issue? We hypothesize that the group-focused "binding" moral values of Loyalty/betrayal, Authority/subversion, and Purity/degradation play a particularly important role in this moralization process. Nine studies provide support for this prediction. First, moralization of self-control goals (e.g., losing weight, saving money) is more strongly associated with endorsing binding moral values than with endorsing individualizing moral values (Care/harm, Fairness/cheating). Second, binding moral values mediate the effect of other group-focused predictors of self-control moralization, including conservatism, religiosity, and collectivism. Third, guiding participants to consider morality as centrally about binding moral values increases moralization of self-control more than guiding participants to consider morality as centrally about individualizing moral values. Fourth, we replicate our core finding that moralization of self-control is associated with binding moral values across studies differing in measures and design - whether we measure the relationship between moral and self-control language across time, the perceived moral relevance of self-control behaviors, or the moral condemnation of self-control failures. Taken together, our findings suggest that self-control moralization is primarily group-oriented and is sensitive to group-oriented cues.
Processing the Word Red can Enhance Women's Perceptions of Men's Attractiveness
Processing the Word Red can Enhance Women's Perceptions of Men's Attractiveness. Adam Pazda & Andrew Elliot. Current Psychology, June 2017, Pages 316-323. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-016-9420-8
Abstract: Prior research has shown that for women viewing men, perceiving the color red can enhance attractiveness judgments in some contexts. Additionally, an association exists between the processing of color words and the perception of color stimuli. The present studies examined whether processing the word red would lead to similar psychological effects of perceiving color stimuli. Specifically, we tested whether reading a description of a man wearing a red shirt (relative to other colors) can enhance women's perceptions of the man's attractiveness. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 provided support for this effect for red-gray and red-green contrasts. The findings are discussed with regard to grounded theories of cognition, which suggest that knowledge about color and experience of perceiving color are integrated in a multimodal fashion. Practical implications of the red effect for interpersonal perception and interaction are discussed along with general implications in the domain of color psychology.
Keywords: Color, Red, Cognitive processing, Attractiveness
Abstract: Prior research has shown that for women viewing men, perceiving the color red can enhance attractiveness judgments in some contexts. Additionally, an association exists between the processing of color words and the perception of color stimuli. The present studies examined whether processing the word red would lead to similar psychological effects of perceiving color stimuli. Specifically, we tested whether reading a description of a man wearing a red shirt (relative to other colors) can enhance women's perceptions of the man's attractiveness. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 provided support for this effect for red-gray and red-green contrasts. The findings are discussed with regard to grounded theories of cognition, which suggest that knowledge about color and experience of perceiving color are integrated in a multimodal fashion. Practical implications of the red effect for interpersonal perception and interaction are discussed along with general implications in the domain of color psychology.
Keywords: Color, Red, Cognitive processing, Attractiveness
Online Networks and Subjective Well-Being
Online Networks and Subjective Well-Being. Fabio Sabatini and Francesco Sarracino. Kyklos, August 2017, Pages 456-480. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/kykl.12145/abstract
Abstract: We test the relationship between the use of social networking sites (SNS) and a proxy of utility, i.e. subjective well-being (SWB), using instrumental variables. Additionally, we disentangle the indirect effects of SNS on well-being mediated by face-to-face interactions and social trust using a structural equation model. Results suggest that the use of SNS hampers people's well-being directly and indirectly, through its negative effects on social trust. However, the use of SNS also has a positive impact on well-being because it increases the probability of face-to-face interactions. Yet, the net effect of the use of SNS for SWB remains negative.
Abstract: We test the relationship between the use of social networking sites (SNS) and a proxy of utility, i.e. subjective well-being (SWB), using instrumental variables. Additionally, we disentangle the indirect effects of SNS on well-being mediated by face-to-face interactions and social trust using a structural equation model. Results suggest that the use of SNS hampers people's well-being directly and indirectly, through its negative effects on social trust. However, the use of SNS also has a positive impact on well-being because it increases the probability of face-to-face interactions. Yet, the net effect of the use of SNS for SWB remains negative.
Does Federal Disaster Assistance Crowd Out Flood Insurance?
Does Federal Disaster Assistance Crowd Out Flood Insurance? Carolyn Kousky, Erwann Michel-Kerjan & Paul Raschky. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069617303479
Abstract: We empirically analyze whether federal disaster aid crowds out household purchase of disaster insurance. We combine data on annual household flood insurance purchases for the United States over the period 2000–2011 with data from the two main U.S. post-disaster federal aid programs (FEMA's Individual Assistance grants and SBA's low interest disaster loans). Estimating both fixed-effects and instrumental variable models to account for the endogeneity of disaster assistance grants, we find that receiving individual assistance grants decreases the average quantity of insurance purchased the following year by between $4,000 and $5,000. The reduction we find is roughly 3% of the mean insurance coverage in the sample but larger than the average flood-related IA grant in our sample, which is $2,984. IA is currently limited and larger grants could have different impacts. The crowding out is on the intensive margin; we find no impact on take-up rates, likely because there is a requirement that recipients of disaster aid purchase an insurance policy. We do not know how take-up rates might change without such a requirement. Low interest post-disaster government loans have no systematic effect on insurance purchases.
Keywords: Natural Disasters and Extreme Events, Flood Insurance, Disaster Relief
Abstract: We empirically analyze whether federal disaster aid crowds out household purchase of disaster insurance. We combine data on annual household flood insurance purchases for the United States over the period 2000–2011 with data from the two main U.S. post-disaster federal aid programs (FEMA's Individual Assistance grants and SBA's low interest disaster loans). Estimating both fixed-effects and instrumental variable models to account for the endogeneity of disaster assistance grants, we find that receiving individual assistance grants decreases the average quantity of insurance purchased the following year by between $4,000 and $5,000. The reduction we find is roughly 3% of the mean insurance coverage in the sample but larger than the average flood-related IA grant in our sample, which is $2,984. IA is currently limited and larger grants could have different impacts. The crowding out is on the intensive margin; we find no impact on take-up rates, likely because there is a requirement that recipients of disaster aid purchase an insurance policy. We do not know how take-up rates might change without such a requirement. Low interest post-disaster government loans have no systematic effect on insurance purchases.
Keywords: Natural Disasters and Extreme Events, Flood Insurance, Disaster Relief
Digitally connected, socially disconnected: The effects of relying on technology rather than other people
Digitally connected, socially disconnected: The effects of relying on technology rather than other people. Kostadin Kushlev, Jason Proulx & Elizabeth Dunn. Computers in Human Behavior, November 2017, Pages 68-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.001
Highlights
• We assessed the costs and benefits of relying on smartphones for information.
• People were randomly assigned to look for a building with or without their phones.
• People relying on their phones found the building faster and felt happier.
• Participants using phones talked to fewer people and felt less socially connected.
• On-the-go information is useful but has a hidden cost: missed social opportunities.
Abstract: In less than a decade, smartphones have transformed how, when, and where people access information. We propose that turning to technology for information may lead individuals to miss out on opportunities to cultivate feelings of social connection. Testing this hypothesis, we asked participants to find an unfamiliar building and randomly assigned them to solve this everyday problem either with or without their smartphones. Compared to those who could not rely on technology, participants who used their smartphones found the building more easily but ended up feeling less socially connected. Although having access to smartphones improved participants’ mood by making their task easier, this beneficial effect was diminished by the costs to social connection. Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that the benefits of pervasive connectivity may be undercut when technology supplants social interactions.
Keywords: Happiness, Human-computer interaction, Cyberpsychology, Social behavior, Well-being, Ubiquitous computing, Pervasive connectivity
Highlights
• We assessed the costs and benefits of relying on smartphones for information.
• People were randomly assigned to look for a building with or without their phones.
• People relying on their phones found the building faster and felt happier.
• Participants using phones talked to fewer people and felt less socially connected.
• On-the-go information is useful but has a hidden cost: missed social opportunities.
Abstract: In less than a decade, smartphones have transformed how, when, and where people access information. We propose that turning to technology for information may lead individuals to miss out on opportunities to cultivate feelings of social connection. Testing this hypothesis, we asked participants to find an unfamiliar building and randomly assigned them to solve this everyday problem either with or without their smartphones. Compared to those who could not rely on technology, participants who used their smartphones found the building more easily but ended up feeling less socially connected. Although having access to smartphones improved participants’ mood by making their task easier, this beneficial effect was diminished by the costs to social connection. Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that the benefits of pervasive connectivity may be undercut when technology supplants social interactions.
Keywords: Happiness, Human-computer interaction, Cyberpsychology, Social behavior, Well-being, Ubiquitous computing, Pervasive connectivity
Reciprocal Influences Between Loneliness and Self-Centeredness
Reciprocal Influences Between Loneliness and Self-Centeredness: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis in a Population-Based Sample of African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian Adults. John Cacioppo, Hsi Yuan Chen & Stephanie Cacioppo. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, August 2017, Pages 1125-1135. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167217705120
Abstract: Loneliness has been posited to increase the motivation to repair or replace deficient social relationships and, seemingly paradoxically, to increase the implicit motivation for self-preservation. In the current research, we report a cross-lagged panel analysis of 10 waves of longitudinal data (N = 229) on loneliness and self-centeredness (as gauged by Feeney and Collins's measure of chronic self-focus) in a representative sample of middle-aged and older adults. As predicted by the proposition that loneliness increases the implicit motivation for self-preservation, loneliness in the current year predicts self-centeredness in the subsequent year beyond what is explained by current-year demographic variables, self-centeredness, depressive symptomatology, and overall negative mood. Analyses also show that self-centeredness in the current year (net covariates) predicts loneliness in the subsequent year, a reciprocal relationship that could potentially contribute to the maintenance of loneliness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Abstract: Loneliness has been posited to increase the motivation to repair or replace deficient social relationships and, seemingly paradoxically, to increase the implicit motivation for self-preservation. In the current research, we report a cross-lagged panel analysis of 10 waves of longitudinal data (N = 229) on loneliness and self-centeredness (as gauged by Feeney and Collins's measure of chronic self-focus) in a representative sample of middle-aged and older adults. As predicted by the proposition that loneliness increases the implicit motivation for self-preservation, loneliness in the current year predicts self-centeredness in the subsequent year beyond what is explained by current-year demographic variables, self-centeredness, depressive symptomatology, and overall negative mood. Analyses also show that self-centeredness in the current year (net covariates) predicts loneliness in the subsequent year, a reciprocal relationship that could potentially contribute to the maintenance of loneliness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Grey Power and the Economy: Aging and Inflation Across Advanced Economies
Grey Power and the Economy: Aging and Inflation Across Advanced Economies. Tim Vlandas. Comparative Political Studies, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2993934
Abstract: What explains the cross-national variation in inflation rates across countries? In contrast to most literature, which emphasizes the role of ideas and institutions, this article focuses on electoral politics and argues that aging leads to lower inflation rates. Countries with a larger share of elderly exhibit lower inflation because older people are both more inflation averse and politically powerful, forcing parties seeking their votes to pursue lower inflation. Logistic regression analysis of survey data confirms that older people are more inflation averse and more likely to punish incumbents at the ballot box for inflation. Panel data regression analysis shows that social democratic parties have more economically orthodox manifestos in European countries with more elderly people, and that the share of elderly is negatively correlated with inflation in both a sample of 21 advanced economies and a larger sample of 175 countries. Aging therefore pushes governments to pursue lower inflation.
Keywords: inflation, aging, grey power, economic policy, independent central banks, economic orthodoxy
Abstract: What explains the cross-national variation in inflation rates across countries? In contrast to most literature, which emphasizes the role of ideas and institutions, this article focuses on electoral politics and argues that aging leads to lower inflation rates. Countries with a larger share of elderly exhibit lower inflation because older people are both more inflation averse and politically powerful, forcing parties seeking their votes to pursue lower inflation. Logistic regression analysis of survey data confirms that older people are more inflation averse and more likely to punish incumbents at the ballot box for inflation. Panel data regression analysis shows that social democratic parties have more economically orthodox manifestos in European countries with more elderly people, and that the share of elderly is negatively correlated with inflation in both a sample of 21 advanced economies and a larger sample of 175 countries. Aging therefore pushes governments to pursue lower inflation.
Keywords: inflation, aging, grey power, economic policy, independent central banks, economic orthodoxy
Romance, Sexual Attraction, and Women's Political Ambition: Initial Findings from Two Experiments
Romance, Sexual Attraction, and Women's Political Ambition: Initial Findings from Two Experiments. Shauna Shames, Laura Lazarus Frankel & Nadia Farjood. Sexuality & Culture, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12119-017-9443-9
Abstract: This study develops and begins to test the hypothesis that considerations of romance and sexual attractiveness may impede women's expression of political ambition (in the sense of either interest in holding public office or willingness to disclose such interest). As this is a very new area of research, and as the subject is difficult to test, this study does not draw firm conclusions, but the initial data results suggest at least some support for the hypothesis. It does seem from these two experiments that politics makes one less popular as a date or mate choice, and that women who hypothetically hold office would be less likely to reveal that fact to a potential sexual or romantic partner. Further research is needed to both develop the measurements for this exciting new area of study and confirm these initial results.
Keywords: Politics Political ambition Public office Romance Sex Sexual attraction Attractiveness Attraction Experiments Dating Holding public office Running for office
Abstract: This study develops and begins to test the hypothesis that considerations of romance and sexual attractiveness may impede women's expression of political ambition (in the sense of either interest in holding public office or willingness to disclose such interest). As this is a very new area of research, and as the subject is difficult to test, this study does not draw firm conclusions, but the initial data results suggest at least some support for the hypothesis. It does seem from these two experiments that politics makes one less popular as a date or mate choice, and that women who hypothetically hold office would be less likely to reveal that fact to a potential sexual or romantic partner. Further research is needed to both develop the measurements for this exciting new area of study and confirm these initial results.
Keywords: Politics Political ambition Public office Romance Sex Sexual attraction Attractiveness Attraction Experiments Dating Holding public office Running for office
The “sensory deprivation tank”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of men’s expectations of first-time fatherhood
The “sensory deprivation tank”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of men’s expectations of first-time fatherhood. Kings, Christopher A.; Knight, Tess; Ryan, Dani; Macdonald, Jacqui A.
Psychology of Men & Masculinity, Vol 18(2), Apr 2017, 112-122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/men0000046
Abstract: Few studies have investigated expectations of fatherhood in men without children, and none within the age bracket most often associated with new fatherhood. Therefore, the objective of this qualitative study was to gain in-depth understanding of young men’s beliefs and perceptions of that role. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of interview transcripts identified 3 key themes: The contemporary model father, perceived threat to life as we know it, and, the central theme, an unforeseeable future. Analysis revealed that while participants held broad expectations to be emotionally and physically involved as well as economically responsible fathers, their views often lacked specificity, consideration of meaning, and practical notions about how expectations could be fulfilled. We explain the lack of development in men’s conceptualization of fatherhood across emerging adulthood through hegemonic masculinity, identity theory, and life course perspectives. The current study provides a rationale for promoting increased discussion around fatherhood in the preconception period to help lessen the turbulent nature of men’s transition through pregnancy.
Psychology of Men & Masculinity, Vol 18(2), Apr 2017, 112-122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/men0000046
Abstract: Few studies have investigated expectations of fatherhood in men without children, and none within the age bracket most often associated with new fatherhood. Therefore, the objective of this qualitative study was to gain in-depth understanding of young men’s beliefs and perceptions of that role. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of interview transcripts identified 3 key themes: The contemporary model father, perceived threat to life as we know it, and, the central theme, an unforeseeable future. Analysis revealed that while participants held broad expectations to be emotionally and physically involved as well as economically responsible fathers, their views often lacked specificity, consideration of meaning, and practical notions about how expectations could be fulfilled. We explain the lack of development in men’s conceptualization of fatherhood across emerging adulthood through hegemonic masculinity, identity theory, and life course perspectives. The current study provides a rationale for promoting increased discussion around fatherhood in the preconception period to help lessen the turbulent nature of men’s transition through pregnancy.
The attrition of indigenous and non-indigenous child sexual abuse cases in two Australian jurisdictions
The attrition of indigenous and non-indigenous child sexual abuse cases in two Australian jurisdictions. Bailey, Cate; Powell, Martine; Brubacher, Sonja P. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol 23(2), May 2017, 178-190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/law0000119
Abstract: Indigenous children are significantly more likely to be victims of sexual abuse than non-Indigenous children. To investigate justice outcomes for Indigenous children, we aimed in this study to compare Indigenous versus non-Indigenous cases of suspected child sexual abuse as they proceed through the criminal justice system in 2 Australian jurisdictions. In Study 1, case progression of the 2 groups was compared at the following 5 stages: Forensic disclosure (child disclosed to police in a forensic interview), case is charged, case is proceeded by public prosecutors, case goes to court, and conviction. The results revealed that in both jurisdictions, Indigenous children were less likely than non-Indigenous children to make an allegation of abuse and to have the case proceeded by public prosecutors. These findings suggest that it was more difficult for Indigenous cases of suspected child sexual abuse to proceed through the criminal justice system. A second study investigated which case characteristics predicted forensic disclosure. Previous disclosure by the child and the availability of a corroborating witness were significant predictors of a case having evidence in the form of a forensic disclosure, in both jurisdictions. In conclusion, cases for Indigenous children were less likely to have evidence in the form of a forensic disclosure than non-Indigenous children, and community related variables significantly predicted abuse allegations, in both cohorts. If an Indigenous child did not make an allegation of abuse within the community, the child was unlikely to make an allegation of abuse to police.
Abstract: Indigenous children are significantly more likely to be victims of sexual abuse than non-Indigenous children. To investigate justice outcomes for Indigenous children, we aimed in this study to compare Indigenous versus non-Indigenous cases of suspected child sexual abuse as they proceed through the criminal justice system in 2 Australian jurisdictions. In Study 1, case progression of the 2 groups was compared at the following 5 stages: Forensic disclosure (child disclosed to police in a forensic interview), case is charged, case is proceeded by public prosecutors, case goes to court, and conviction. The results revealed that in both jurisdictions, Indigenous children were less likely than non-Indigenous children to make an allegation of abuse and to have the case proceeded by public prosecutors. These findings suggest that it was more difficult for Indigenous cases of suspected child sexual abuse to proceed through the criminal justice system. A second study investigated which case characteristics predicted forensic disclosure. Previous disclosure by the child and the availability of a corroborating witness were significant predictors of a case having evidence in the form of a forensic disclosure, in both jurisdictions. In conclusion, cases for Indigenous children were less likely to have evidence in the form of a forensic disclosure than non-Indigenous children, and community related variables significantly predicted abuse allegations, in both cohorts. If an Indigenous child did not make an allegation of abuse within the community, the child was unlikely to make an allegation of abuse to police.
High School Genetic Diversity and Later-life Student Outcomes: Micro-level Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. C. Justin Cook, Jason M. Fletcher. http://www.nber.org/papers/w23520
Abstract: A novel hypothesis posits that levels of genetic diversity in a population may partially explain variation in the development and success of countries. Our paper extends evidence on this novel question by subjecting the hypothesis to an alternative context that eliminates many alternative hypotheses by aggregating representative data to the high school level from a single state (Wisconsin) in 1957, when the population was composed nearly entirely of individuals of European ancestry. Using this sample of high school aggregations, we too find a strong effect of genetic diversity on socioeconomic outcomes. Additionally, we check an existing mechanism and propose a new potential mechanism of the results for innovation: personality traits associated with creativity and divergent thinking.
NBER Working Paper No. 23520
NBER Program(s): EFG LS
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But these authors find worse results:
Ethnic and linguistic fractionalization contributes to poverty levels
Ethnic Diversity and Poverty. By Sefa Awawory Churchill, Russell Smyth
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.02.032
World Development, Volume 95, July 2017, Pages 285–302
Maybe it is a case of both trends at the same time...
Abstract: A novel hypothesis posits that levels of genetic diversity in a population may partially explain variation in the development and success of countries. Our paper extends evidence on this novel question by subjecting the hypothesis to an alternative context that eliminates many alternative hypotheses by aggregating representative data to the high school level from a single state (Wisconsin) in 1957, when the population was composed nearly entirely of individuals of European ancestry. Using this sample of high school aggregations, we too find a strong effect of genetic diversity on socioeconomic outcomes. Additionally, we check an existing mechanism and propose a new potential mechanism of the results for innovation: personality traits associated with creativity and divergent thinking.
NBER Working Paper No. 23520
NBER Program(s): EFG LS
---
But these authors find worse results:
Ethnic and linguistic fractionalization contributes to poverty levels
Ethnic Diversity and Poverty. By Sefa Awawory Churchill, Russell Smyth
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.02.032
World Development, Volume 95, July 2017, Pages 285–302
Maybe it is a case of both trends at the same time...
Lying because we care: Compassion increases prosocial lying
Lying because we care: Compassion increases prosocial lying. Lupoli, Matthew J.; Jampol, Lily; Oveis, Christopher. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol 146(7), Jul 2017, 1026-1042. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000315
Prosocial lies, or lies intended to benefit others, are ubiquitous behaviors that have important social and economic consequences. Though emotions play a central role in many forms of prosocial behavior, no work has investigated how emotions influence behavior when one has the opportunity to tell a prosocial lie—a situation that presents a conflict between two prosocial ethics: lying to prevent harm to another, and honesty, which might also provide benefits to the target of the lie. Here, we examine whether the emotion of compassion influences prosocial lying, and find that compassion causally increases and positively predicts prosocial lying. In Studies 1 and 2, participants evaluated a poorly written essay and provided feedback to the essay writer. Experimentally induced compassion felt toward the essay writer (Study 1) and individual differences in trait compassion (Study 2) were positively associated with inflated feedback to the essay writer. In both of these studies, the relationship between compassion and prosocial lying was partially mediated by an enhanced importance placed on preventing emotional harm. In Study 3, we found moderation such that experimentally induced compassion increased lies that resulted in financial gains for a charity, but not lies that produced financial gains for the self. This research illuminates the emotional underpinnings of the common yet morally complex behavior of prosocial lying, and builds on work highlighting the potentially harmful effects of compassion—an emotion typically seen as socially beneficial.
Prosocial lies, or lies intended to benefit others, are ubiquitous behaviors that have important social and economic consequences. Though emotions play a central role in many forms of prosocial behavior, no work has investigated how emotions influence behavior when one has the opportunity to tell a prosocial lie—a situation that presents a conflict between two prosocial ethics: lying to prevent harm to another, and honesty, which might also provide benefits to the target of the lie. Here, we examine whether the emotion of compassion influences prosocial lying, and find that compassion causally increases and positively predicts prosocial lying. In Studies 1 and 2, participants evaluated a poorly written essay and provided feedback to the essay writer. Experimentally induced compassion felt toward the essay writer (Study 1) and individual differences in trait compassion (Study 2) were positively associated with inflated feedback to the essay writer. In both of these studies, the relationship between compassion and prosocial lying was partially mediated by an enhanced importance placed on preventing emotional harm. In Study 3, we found moderation such that experimentally induced compassion increased lies that resulted in financial gains for a charity, but not lies that produced financial gains for the self. This research illuminates the emotional underpinnings of the common yet morally complex behavior of prosocial lying, and builds on work highlighting the potentially harmful effects of compassion—an emotion typically seen as socially beneficial.
Romantic Love vs. Reproduction Opportunities: Disentangling the Contributions of Different Anxiety Buffers under Conditions of Existential Threat
Romantic Love vs. Reproduction Opportunities: Disentangling the Contributions of Different Anxiety Buffers under Conditions of Existential Threat. By Annedore Hoppe, Immo Fritsche & Nicolas Koranyi. European Journal of Social Psychology, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.2322/abstract
Abstract: Romantic relationships and offspring are discussed as anxiety buffers in terror management processes. We examined the relationship between these possible buffers and tested whether romantic relationships reduce existential threat due to reproduction opportunities or if they represent a distinct anxiety buffer. Contrary to our initial expectations, thinking about a positive romantic relationship without (vs. with) own children increased partner affect (Study 1) and commitment (Study 2) and decreased punishment intentions (Study 2) after mortality salience. These effects were mediated by participants’ desire for romantic love. Furthermore, thinking about positive non-parental (vs. parental) romantic relationships lowered death-thought accessibility (Study 3). Together, these findings suggest that romantic relationships form a distinct anxiety buffer which is only effective when the cultural (romance) instead of the biological (having children) nature of the relationship is highlighted. We discuss the role of anxiety buffer salience for determining whether offspring concerns buffer or increase existential threat.
My comment: the article is much more interesting that the summary. The introduction is, although brief, very good. It speaks about TMT, terror management theory (which is summarized in a chapter of the Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination: 2nd edition -- anyone wishing to get the chapter can ask for it), and anxiety buffers (pantallas o buffers de/contra la ansiedad). Please read the full article if you've got the time, less than 36 double-spaced pages, about 18 single-spaced ones.
Abstract: Romantic relationships and offspring are discussed as anxiety buffers in terror management processes. We examined the relationship between these possible buffers and tested whether romantic relationships reduce existential threat due to reproduction opportunities or if they represent a distinct anxiety buffer. Contrary to our initial expectations, thinking about a positive romantic relationship without (vs. with) own children increased partner affect (Study 1) and commitment (Study 2) and decreased punishment intentions (Study 2) after mortality salience. These effects were mediated by participants’ desire for romantic love. Furthermore, thinking about positive non-parental (vs. parental) romantic relationships lowered death-thought accessibility (Study 3). Together, these findings suggest that romantic relationships form a distinct anxiety buffer which is only effective when the cultural (romance) instead of the biological (having children) nature of the relationship is highlighted. We discuss the role of anxiety buffer salience for determining whether offspring concerns buffer or increase existential threat.
My comment: the article is much more interesting that the summary. The introduction is, although brief, very good. It speaks about TMT, terror management theory (which is summarized in a chapter of the Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination: 2nd edition -- anyone wishing to get the chapter can ask for it), and anxiety buffers (pantallas o buffers de/contra la ansiedad). Please read the full article if you've got the time, less than 36 double-spaced pages, about 18 single-spaced ones.
Excessive users of violent video games do not show emotional desensitization: An fMRI study
Excessive users of violent video games do not show emotional desensitization: An fMRI study. Gregor Szycik et al. Brain Imaging and Behavior, June 2017, Pages 736–743, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27086318
Abstract: Playing violent video games have been linked to long-term emotional desensitization. We hypothesized that desensitization effects in excessive users of violent video games should lead to decreased brain activations to highly salient emotional pictures in emotional sensitivity brain regions. Twenty-eight male adult subjects showing excessive long-term use of violent video games and age and education matched control participants were examined in two experiments using standardized emotional pictures of positive, negative and neutral valence. No group differences were revealed even at reduced statistical thresholds which speaks against desensitization of emotion sensitive brain regions as a result of excessive use of violent video games.
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Remember too: Overstated evidence for short-term effects of violent games on affect and behavior: A reanalysis of Anderson et al. (2010). By Hilgard, Joseph; Engelhardt, Christopher R.; Rouder, Jeffrey N. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 143(7), Jul 2017, 757-774. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000074
Abstract: Playing violent video games have been linked to long-term emotional desensitization. We hypothesized that desensitization effects in excessive users of violent video games should lead to decreased brain activations to highly salient emotional pictures in emotional sensitivity brain regions. Twenty-eight male adult subjects showing excessive long-term use of violent video games and age and education matched control participants were examined in two experiments using standardized emotional pictures of positive, negative and neutral valence. No group differences were revealed even at reduced statistical thresholds which speaks against desensitization of emotion sensitive brain regions as a result of excessive use of violent video games.
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Remember too: Overstated evidence for short-term effects of violent games on affect and behavior: A reanalysis of Anderson et al. (2010). By Hilgard, Joseph; Engelhardt, Christopher R.; Rouder, Jeffrey N. Psychological Bulletin, Vol 143(7), Jul 2017, 757-774. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000074
Nervousness while in an unfamiliar context, perceived as uppity or classy
David Brooks has a point – upper class kids have invisible cultural advantages. By Henry Farrell. The Washington Post, Jul 11, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/09/23/why-are-working-class-kids-less-likely-to-get-elite-jobs-they-study-too-hard-at-college
A few years ago, an older working-class woman had done a special favor for me, and I wanted to show her my gratitude. I took her out to a restaurant that wasn’t fancy, exactly, but it was a definite cut above Chili’s. To me, this was my way of showing her my gratitude: to take her to a place that was out of the ordinary. At the table, I was distressed to see her obviously struggling to enjoy herself. She appeared anxious and uncomfortable, and I couldn’t figure out why.
Later, her daughter told me that as grateful as her mother was for the invitation, she was a nervous wreck at the restaurant. Her mom saw unfamiliar words on the menu, and felt stupid. And she thought everybody in the restaurant was surely looking at her, and seeing that she didn’t belong.
A few years ago, an older working-class woman had done a special favor for me, and I wanted to show her my gratitude. I took her out to a restaurant that wasn’t fancy, exactly, but it was a definite cut above Chili’s. To me, this was my way of showing her my gratitude: to take her to a place that was out of the ordinary. At the table, I was distressed to see her obviously struggling to enjoy herself. She appeared anxious and uncomfortable, and I couldn’t figure out why.
Later, her daughter told me that as grateful as her mother was for the invitation, she was a nervous wreck at the restaurant. Her mom saw unfamiliar words on the menu, and felt stupid. And she thought everybody in the restaurant was surely looking at her, and seeing that she didn’t belong.
Coke vs. Pepsi: Brand Compatibility, Relationship Power, and Life Satisfaction
Coke vs. Pepsi: Brand Compatibility, Relationship Power, and Life Satisfaction. Danielle Brick et al.
Journal of Consumer Research, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx079
Abstract: Individuals often evaluate, purchase, and consume brands in the presence of others, including close others. Yet relatively little is known about the role brand preferences play in relationships. In the present research, the authors explore how the novel concept of brand compatibility, defined as the extent to which individuals have similar brand preferences (e.g., both partners prefer the same brand of soda, etc.), influences life satisfaction. The authors propose that when brand compatibility is high, life satisfaction will also be high. Conversely, because low brand compatibility may be a source of conflict for the relationship, the authors propose that it will be associated with reduced life satisfaction. Importantly, the authors predict that the effects of brand compatibility on conflict and life satisfaction will depend upon relationship power. Across multiple studies and methodologies, including experimental designs (studies 2, 3, 5) and dyadic data from real-life couples (studies 1, 4, 6), the authors test and find support for their hypotheses. By exploring how a potentially unique form of compatibility influences life satisfaction, including identifying a key moderator and an underlying mechanism, the current research contributes to the literatures on branding, close relationships, consumer well-being, and relationship power.
Keywords: brand compatibility, close relationships, relationship power, consumer well-being, multilevel modeling, actor-partner interdependence model
Journal of Consumer Research, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx079
Abstract: Individuals often evaluate, purchase, and consume brands in the presence of others, including close others. Yet relatively little is known about the role brand preferences play in relationships. In the present research, the authors explore how the novel concept of brand compatibility, defined as the extent to which individuals have similar brand preferences (e.g., both partners prefer the same brand of soda, etc.), influences life satisfaction. The authors propose that when brand compatibility is high, life satisfaction will also be high. Conversely, because low brand compatibility may be a source of conflict for the relationship, the authors propose that it will be associated with reduced life satisfaction. Importantly, the authors predict that the effects of brand compatibility on conflict and life satisfaction will depend upon relationship power. Across multiple studies and methodologies, including experimental designs (studies 2, 3, 5) and dyadic data from real-life couples (studies 1, 4, 6), the authors test and find support for their hypotheses. By exploring how a potentially unique form of compatibility influences life satisfaction, including identifying a key moderator and an underlying mechanism, the current research contributes to the literatures on branding, close relationships, consumer well-being, and relationship power.
Keywords: brand compatibility, close relationships, relationship power, consumer well-being, multilevel modeling, actor-partner interdependence model
Violence Against Women and Household Ownership of Radios, Computers, and Phones in 20 Countries
Violence Against Women and Household Ownership of Radios, Computers, and Phones in 20 Countries. Lauren Cardoso & Susan Sorenson. American Journal of Public Health, July 2017, Pages 1175-1181, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28520478
Methods: Women aged 15 to 49 years in 20 countries were surveyed via UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys between 2006 and 2014. Multivariate logistic regressions accounted for individual-, household-, and structural-level variables.
Results: Household ownership of any ICT (radio, computer, fixed phone, or mobile phone but not television) was associated with increased odds of women rejecting wife beating. The largest association was with computer ownership: women in homes with a computer were more likely to reject wife beating (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.81; 97.5% confidence interval [CI] = 1.69, 1.93). Number of ICTs was important: women in households with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ICTs (vs 0) were more likely to reject wife-beating justifications (AOR = 1.10 [97.5% CI = 1.03, 1.17]; AOR = 1.10 [97.5% CI = 1.03, 1.18]; AOR = 1.19 [97.5% CI = 1.11, 1.29]; AOR = 1.71 [97.5% CI = 1.54, 1.88]; and AOR = 2.85 [97.5% CI = 2.48, 3.26]; respectively).
Conclusions: Independent of household wealth, country development, and other sociodemographic factors, the more ICTs in a household, the more likely that women will reject wife-beating justifications. Policymakers and program planners should consider potential implications of ICT access relating to intimate partner violence.
Methods: Women aged 15 to 49 years in 20 countries were surveyed via UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys between 2006 and 2014. Multivariate logistic regressions accounted for individual-, household-, and structural-level variables.
Results: Household ownership of any ICT (radio, computer, fixed phone, or mobile phone but not television) was associated with increased odds of women rejecting wife beating. The largest association was with computer ownership: women in homes with a computer were more likely to reject wife beating (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.81; 97.5% confidence interval [CI] = 1.69, 1.93). Number of ICTs was important: women in households with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ICTs (vs 0) were more likely to reject wife-beating justifications (AOR = 1.10 [97.5% CI = 1.03, 1.17]; AOR = 1.10 [97.5% CI = 1.03, 1.18]; AOR = 1.19 [97.5% CI = 1.11, 1.29]; AOR = 1.71 [97.5% CI = 1.54, 1.88]; and AOR = 2.85 [97.5% CI = 2.48, 3.26]; respectively).
Conclusions: Independent of household wealth, country development, and other sociodemographic factors, the more ICTs in a household, the more likely that women will reject wife-beating justifications. Policymakers and program planners should consider potential implications of ICT access relating to intimate partner violence.
Cross-Disciplinary Survey of Beliefs about Human Nature, Culture, and Science
Joseph Carroll et al.: Cross-Disciplinary Survey of Beliefs about Human Nature, Culture, and Science. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, Vol. 1 | No. 1 | Spring 2017. http://journals.academicstudiespress.com/index.php/ESIC/article/view/10/52
Abstract: How far has the Darwinian revolution come? To what extent have evolutionary ideas penetrated into the social sciences and humanities? Are the “science wars” over? Or do whole blocs of disciplines face off over an unbridgeable epistemic gap? To answer questions like these, contributors to top journals in 22 disciplines were surveyed on their beliefs about human nature, culture, and science. More than 600 respondents completed the survey. Scoring patterns divided into two main sets of disciplines. Genetic influences were emphasized in the evolutionary social sciences, evolutionary humanities, psychology, empirical study of the arts, philosophy, economics, and political science. Environmental influences were emphasized in most of the humanities disciplines and in anthropology, sociology, education, and women’s or gender studies. Confidence in scientific explanation correlated positively with emphasizing genetic influences on behavior, and negatively with emphasizing environmental influences. Knowing the current actual landscape of belief should help scholars avoid sterile debates and ease the way toward fruitful collaborations with neighboring disciplines.
Keywords: human nature, culture, science, science wars, cultural construction, evolutionary social science, social science, humanities, biocultural theory
Abstract: How far has the Darwinian revolution come? To what extent have evolutionary ideas penetrated into the social sciences and humanities? Are the “science wars” over? Or do whole blocs of disciplines face off over an unbridgeable epistemic gap? To answer questions like these, contributors to top journals in 22 disciplines were surveyed on their beliefs about human nature, culture, and science. More than 600 respondents completed the survey. Scoring patterns divided into two main sets of disciplines. Genetic influences were emphasized in the evolutionary social sciences, evolutionary humanities, psychology, empirical study of the arts, philosophy, economics, and political science. Environmental influences were emphasized in most of the humanities disciplines and in anthropology, sociology, education, and women’s or gender studies. Confidence in scientific explanation correlated positively with emphasizing genetic influences on behavior, and negatively with emphasizing environmental influences. Knowing the current actual landscape of belief should help scholars avoid sterile debates and ease the way toward fruitful collaborations with neighboring disciplines.
Keywords: human nature, culture, science, science wars, cultural construction, evolutionary social science, social science, humanities, biocultural theory
Increasing consumer well-being: Risk as potential driver of happiness
Increasing consumer well-being: Risk as potential driver of happiness. Nawel Ayadi, Corina Paraschiv & Eric Vernette. Applied Economics, Summer 2017, Pages 4321-4335, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2017.1282142
Abstract: This article investigates the relation between risk and individual well-being. We propose a theoretical model of happiness that makes a distinction between ex ante evaluations of happiness and ex post assessments. The main assumptions of the model are tested through three studies based on anchoring vignettes. We show that, even if, ex ante, consumers fear high risk and do not associate it to a high level of happiness, their ex post evaluation of well-being is generally higher when identical consequences result from a high-risk situation than from a low-risk situation. Control over risk-taking reinforces the gap between ex ante and ex post measures of happiness. Thus, our article provides empirical evidence about a positive relation between risk and individual well-being, suggesting that risky experiences have the potential to increase consumer well-being.
Keywords: Well-being, happiness, risk, vignettes
JEL classific'n: D12, D81, I31
Abstract: This article investigates the relation between risk and individual well-being. We propose a theoretical model of happiness that makes a distinction between ex ante evaluations of happiness and ex post assessments. The main assumptions of the model are tested through three studies based on anchoring vignettes. We show that, even if, ex ante, consumers fear high risk and do not associate it to a high level of happiness, their ex post evaluation of well-being is generally higher when identical consequences result from a high-risk situation than from a low-risk situation. Control over risk-taking reinforces the gap between ex ante and ex post measures of happiness. Thus, our article provides empirical evidence about a positive relation between risk and individual well-being, suggesting that risky experiences have the potential to increase consumer well-being.
Keywords: Well-being, happiness, risk, vignettes
JEL classific'n: D12, D81, I31
How Unequal Perceptions of User Reviews Impact Price Competition
How Unequal Perceptions of User Reviews Impact Price Competition. By Pelin Pekgün, Michael Galbreth & Bikram Ghosh
Decision Sciences, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/deci.12273/abstract
Abstract: When a consumer cannot fully assess her valuations of competing products prior to purchase, she must make a purchase decision based on imperfect product information. However, with the advent of online channels for widely disseminating individual user reviews, consumers are now able to learn from the experiences of others and update their expectations regarding product valuations. We analyze the interaction of user reviews and experience uncertainty, with a specific focus on the potential for negative and positive reviews to be weighted differently in a consumer's assessment of the valence of the posted reviews. We find that overweighting of negative reviews by consumers can lead to surprising results in terms of pricing and profits in a competitive context. In particular, if consumer awareness is higher for the lower quality product, it can charge higher prices and realize higher profits in equilibrium than its higher quality competitor when consumers are strongly influenced by negative reviews. We also show that a higher weighting on positive reviews by consumers always helps the firm with a lower consumer awareness.
Decision Sciences, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/deci.12273/abstract
Abstract: When a consumer cannot fully assess her valuations of competing products prior to purchase, she must make a purchase decision based on imperfect product information. However, with the advent of online channels for widely disseminating individual user reviews, consumers are now able to learn from the experiences of others and update their expectations regarding product valuations. We analyze the interaction of user reviews and experience uncertainty, with a specific focus on the potential for negative and positive reviews to be weighted differently in a consumer's assessment of the valence of the posted reviews. We find that overweighting of negative reviews by consumers can lead to surprising results in terms of pricing and profits in a competitive context. In particular, if consumer awareness is higher for the lower quality product, it can charge higher prices and realize higher profits in equilibrium than its higher quality competitor when consumers are strongly influenced by negative reviews. We also show that a higher weighting on positive reviews by consumers always helps the firm with a lower consumer awareness.
Dispositional Negativity in the Wild: Social Environment Governs Momentary Emotional Experience
Dispositional Negativity in the Wild: Social Environment Governs Momentary Emotional Experience. Alexander Shackman et al. Emotion, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28604044
Abstract: Dspositional negativity - the tendency to experience more frequent or intense negative emotions - is a fundamental dimension of temperament and personality. Elevated levels of dispositional negativity have profound consequences for public health and wealth, drawing the attention of researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Yet, relatively little is known about the factors that govern the momentary expression of dispositional negativity in the real world. Here, we used smart phone-based experience-sampling to demonstrate that the social environment plays a central role in shaping the moment-by-moment emotional experience of 127 young adults selectively recruited to represent a broad spectrum of dispositional negativity. Results indicate that individuals with a more negative disposition derive much larger emotional benefits from the company of close companions - friends, romantic partners, and family members - and that these benefits reflect heightened feelings of social connection and acceptance. These results set the stage for developing improved interventions and provide new insights into the interaction of emotional traits and situations in the real world, close to clinically and practically important end-points.
Abstract: Dspositional negativity - the tendency to experience more frequent or intense negative emotions - is a fundamental dimension of temperament and personality. Elevated levels of dispositional negativity have profound consequences for public health and wealth, drawing the attention of researchers, clinicians, and policymakers. Yet, relatively little is known about the factors that govern the momentary expression of dispositional negativity in the real world. Here, we used smart phone-based experience-sampling to demonstrate that the social environment plays a central role in shaping the moment-by-moment emotional experience of 127 young adults selectively recruited to represent a broad spectrum of dispositional negativity. Results indicate that individuals with a more negative disposition derive much larger emotional benefits from the company of close companions - friends, romantic partners, and family members - and that these benefits reflect heightened feelings of social connection and acceptance. These results set the stage for developing improved interventions and provide new insights into the interaction of emotional traits and situations in the real world, close to clinically and practically important end-points.
Relative and Absolute Deprivation’s Relationship With Violent Crime in the US: Testing an Interaction Effect Between Income Inequality & Disadvantage
Relative and Absolute Deprivation’s Relationship With Violent Crime in the United States: Testing an Interaction Effect Between Income Inequality and Disadvantage. By Bert Burraston, James C. McCutcheon, Stephen J. Watts, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011128717709246
Abstract: Relative deprivation and absolute deprivation both have effects on crime. Although these two concepts are often treated as separate, some scholarship has suggested that the two may be complementary. The current study assesses whether the effects of relative and absolute deprivation interact statistically in their effect on violent crime by testing an interaction effect between income inequality and disadvantage. Using data from U.S. counties, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) regression models show that there is a significant interaction between relative and absolute deprivation predicting violent crime rates. The plot of this interaction shows that when absolute deprivation is high, there is less violence in high inequality counties than in counties with medium levels of inequality. The implication of this finding is discussed.
Abstract: Relative deprivation and absolute deprivation both have effects on crime. Although these two concepts are often treated as separate, some scholarship has suggested that the two may be complementary. The current study assesses whether the effects of relative and absolute deprivation interact statistically in their effect on violent crime by testing an interaction effect between income inequality and disadvantage. Using data from U.S. counties, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) regression models show that there is a significant interaction between relative and absolute deprivation predicting violent crime rates. The plot of this interaction shows that when absolute deprivation is high, there is less violence in high inequality counties than in counties with medium levels of inequality. The implication of this finding is discussed.
Sexuality Leads to Boosts in Mood and Meaning in Life With No Evidence for the Reverse Direction
Sexuality Leads to Boosts in Mood and Meaning in Life With No Evidence for the Reverse Direction: A Daily Diary Investigation. Todd Kashdan et al. Emotion, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28604041
Abstract: Sex is rarely discussed in theories of well-being and rarely empirically examined using methods other than cross-sectional surveys. In the present study, a daily diary approach was used (for 21 days with 152 adults) to explore the relationship between the presence and quality of sexual episodes and well-being (positive affect, negative affect, meaning in life). Time-lagged analyses demonstrated that sexual activity on 1 day was related to greater well-being the next. As for the quality of episodes, higher reported sexual pleasure and intimacy predicted greater positive affect and lower negative affect the following day. When the reverse direction was tested, well-being did not predict next-day sexual activity, pleasure, or intimacy. These results suggest a unidirectional relationship in which the presence and quality of sexual activity lead to gains in well-being the following day. Contextual moderators (gender, relationship status, relationship closeness, and relationship length) allowed for tests of conditions altering the link between sexuality and well-being. Relationship closeness was the most robust moderator in predicting greater levels of meaning in life and positive affect following sexual episodes. These data provide evidence to support the continual consideration of sex in empirical work and theoretical models of elements that comprise healthy relationships and a good life.
Abstract: Sex is rarely discussed in theories of well-being and rarely empirically examined using methods other than cross-sectional surveys. In the present study, a daily diary approach was used (for 21 days with 152 adults) to explore the relationship between the presence and quality of sexual episodes and well-being (positive affect, negative affect, meaning in life). Time-lagged analyses demonstrated that sexual activity on 1 day was related to greater well-being the next. As for the quality of episodes, higher reported sexual pleasure and intimacy predicted greater positive affect and lower negative affect the following day. When the reverse direction was tested, well-being did not predict next-day sexual activity, pleasure, or intimacy. These results suggest a unidirectional relationship in which the presence and quality of sexual activity lead to gains in well-being the following day. Contextual moderators (gender, relationship status, relationship closeness, and relationship length) allowed for tests of conditions altering the link between sexuality and well-being. Relationship closeness was the most robust moderator in predicting greater levels of meaning in life and positive affect following sexual episodes. These data provide evidence to support the continual consideration of sex in empirical work and theoretical models of elements that comprise healthy relationships and a good life.
Perceptions of socioeconomic mobility influence academic persistence among low socioeconomic status students
Perceptions of socioeconomic mobility influence academic persistence among low socioeconomic status students. By Alexander Browman et al.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, September 2017, Pages 45–52, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00221031/72/supp/C?sdc=1
Abstract: Despite facing daunting odds of academic success compared with their more socioeconomically advantaged peers, many students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds maintain high levels of academic motivation and persist in the face of difficulty. We propose that for these students, academic persistence may hinge on their perceptions of socioeconomic mobility, or their general beliefs regarding whether or not socioeconomic mobility — a powerful academic motivator — can occur in their society. Specifically, low-SES students' desire to persist on a primary path to mobility (i.e., school) should remain strong if they believe that socioeconomic mobility can occur in their society. By contrast, those who believe that socioeconomic mobility generally does not occur should be less motivated to persist academically. One correlational and two experimental studies provide support for this hypothesis among low (but not high) SES high school and university students. Implications for future intervention efforts are discussed.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, September 2017, Pages 45–52, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00221031/72/supp/C?sdc=1
Abstract: Despite facing daunting odds of academic success compared with their more socioeconomically advantaged peers, many students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds maintain high levels of academic motivation and persist in the face of difficulty. We propose that for these students, academic persistence may hinge on their perceptions of socioeconomic mobility, or their general beliefs regarding whether or not socioeconomic mobility — a powerful academic motivator — can occur in their society. Specifically, low-SES students' desire to persist on a primary path to mobility (i.e., school) should remain strong if they believe that socioeconomic mobility can occur in their society. By contrast, those who believe that socioeconomic mobility generally does not occur should be less motivated to persist academically. One correlational and two experimental studies provide support for this hypothesis among low (but not high) SES high school and university students. Implications for future intervention efforts are discussed.
It’s Too Pretty to Use! When and How Enhanced Product Aesthetics Discourage Usage and Lower Consumption Enjoyment
It’s Too Pretty to Use! When and How Enhanced Product Aesthetics Discourage Usage and Lower Consumption Enjoyment. By Freeman Wu et al.
Journal of Consumer Research, https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jcr/ucx057/3096199/It-s-Too-Pretty-to-Use-When-and-How-Enhanced?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Abstract: Marketers invest a lot of resources in product aesthetics and design, but does this strategy always lead to favorable consumer outcomes? While prior research suggests enhanced aesthetics should have a uniformly positive influence on pre-usage evaluations and choice, the present research examines the downstream effects of nondurable product aesthetics on consumption behavior and post-consumption affect. First, we document an inhibiting effect of aesthetics on actual consumption. We find that highly aesthetic products elicit greater perceptions of effort in their creation, and that consumers have an intrinsic appreciation for such effort. Because the consumption process indirectly destroys the effort invested to make the product beautiful, people reduce consumption of such products because usage would entail destroying something they naturally appreciate. Second, we show that in cases where individuals do consume a beautiful product, they exhibit lower consumption enjoyment and increased negative affect. These negative post-consumption outcomes are mediated in parallel by concerns over having actually destroyed the effort that made the product beautiful as well as the decrements in beauty that become visible when aesthetic products are made less attractive through consumption. Across a series of studies, we challenge the common assumption that enhanced aesthetics always lead to positive consumer outcomes.
Keywords: aesthetics, effort, product usage, consumption enjoyment, predicted vs. experienced utility, implicit self-theories
Journal of Consumer Research, https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jcr/ucx057/3096199/It-s-Too-Pretty-to-Use-When-and-How-Enhanced?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Abstract: Marketers invest a lot of resources in product aesthetics and design, but does this strategy always lead to favorable consumer outcomes? While prior research suggests enhanced aesthetics should have a uniformly positive influence on pre-usage evaluations and choice, the present research examines the downstream effects of nondurable product aesthetics on consumption behavior and post-consumption affect. First, we document an inhibiting effect of aesthetics on actual consumption. We find that highly aesthetic products elicit greater perceptions of effort in their creation, and that consumers have an intrinsic appreciation for such effort. Because the consumption process indirectly destroys the effort invested to make the product beautiful, people reduce consumption of such products because usage would entail destroying something they naturally appreciate. Second, we show that in cases where individuals do consume a beautiful product, they exhibit lower consumption enjoyment and increased negative affect. These negative post-consumption outcomes are mediated in parallel by concerns over having actually destroyed the effort that made the product beautiful as well as the decrements in beauty that become visible when aesthetic products are made less attractive through consumption. Across a series of studies, we challenge the common assumption that enhanced aesthetics always lead to positive consumer outcomes.
Keywords: aesthetics, effort, product usage, consumption enjoyment, predicted vs. experienced utility, implicit self-theories
The Relations Between Parental Socioeconomic Status, Personality, and Life Outcomes
The Relations Between Parental Socioeconomic Status, Personality, and Life Outcomes. By Mona Ayoub et al. Social Psychological and Personality Science, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550617707018?journalCode=sppa
Abstract: Studies have shown that cognitive ability is correlated with parental socioeconomic status (pSES). However, little is known about the correlation between personality and pSES. To better understand this relation, we conducted a meta-analysis of the correlations between pSES and personality traits and temperament dimensions. The correlations were generally very small with the exception of the correlation between pSES and openness to experience. Our results were replicated in a large (N = 2,183,377) data set of self-reported personality scores collected online. Using this data set, we also examined the interaction between pSES and personality on attained education and socioeconomic status. We found evidence for the resource substitution hypothesis, which proposes that personality compensates for background disadvantage.
Abstract: Studies have shown that cognitive ability is correlated with parental socioeconomic status (pSES). However, little is known about the correlation between personality and pSES. To better understand this relation, we conducted a meta-analysis of the correlations between pSES and personality traits and temperament dimensions. The correlations were generally very small with the exception of the correlation between pSES and openness to experience. Our results were replicated in a large (N = 2,183,377) data set of self-reported personality scores collected online. Using this data set, we also examined the interaction between pSES and personality on attained education and socioeconomic status. We found evidence for the resource substitution hypothesis, which proposes that personality compensates for background disadvantage.
Seeding the S-Curve? The Role of Early Adopters in Diffusion
Seeding the S-Curve? The Role of Early Adopters in Diffusion. Christian Catalini & Catherine Tucker. MIT Working Paper, August 2016, http://www.imapsource.org/doi/abs/10.4071/2016DPC-TA11
In October 2014, all 4,494 undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were given access to Bitcoin, a decentralized digital currency. As a unique feature of the experiment, students who would generally adopt first were placed in a situation where many of their peers received access to the technology before them, and they then had to decide whether to continue to invest in this digital currency or exit. Our results suggest that when natural early adopters are delayed relative to their peers, they are more likely to reject the technology. We present further evidence that this appears to be driven by identity, in that the effect occurs in situations where natural early adopters' delay relative to others is most visible, and in settings where the natural early adopters would have been somewhat unique in their tech-savvy status. We then show not only that natural early adopters are more likely to reject the technology if they are delayed, but that this rejection generates spillovers on adoption by their peers who are not natural early adopters. This suggests that small changes in the initial availability of a technology have a lasting effect on its potential: Seeding a technology while ignoring early adopters' needs for distinctiveness is counterproductive.
In October 2014, all 4,494 undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were given access to Bitcoin, a decentralized digital currency. As a unique feature of the experiment, students who would generally adopt first were placed in a situation where many of their peers received access to the technology before them, and they then had to decide whether to continue to invest in this digital currency or exit. Our results suggest that when natural early adopters are delayed relative to their peers, they are more likely to reject the technology. We present further evidence that this appears to be driven by identity, in that the effect occurs in situations where natural early adopters' delay relative to others is most visible, and in settings where the natural early adopters would have been somewhat unique in their tech-savvy status. We then show not only that natural early adopters are more likely to reject the technology if they are delayed, but that this rejection generates spillovers on adoption by their peers who are not natural early adopters. This suggests that small changes in the initial availability of a technology have a lasting effect on its potential: Seeding a technology while ignoring early adopters' needs for distinctiveness is counterproductive.
John Roberts, Chief Judge, US Supreme Court. Commencement speech at his son's school
John Roberts, Chief Judge, US Supreme Court. Commencement speech at his son's school. Jun 03, 2017, http://time.com/4845150/chief-justice-john-roberts-commencement-speech-transcript/
Now the commencement speakers will typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you. I will not do that, and I’ll tell you why. From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either. And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship. I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion.
Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen. And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.
Now the commencement speakers will typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you. I will not do that, and I’ll tell you why. From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either. And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship. I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion.
Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen. And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.
How much compensation is too much? An investigation of the effectiveness of financial overcompensation as a means to enhance customer loyalty
How much compensation is too much? An investigation of the effectiveness of financial overcompensation as a means to enhance customer loyalty. By Tessa Haesevoets et al.
Judgment and Decision Making, March 2017, Pages 183–197
http://journal.sjdm.org/16/16929/jdm16929.pdf
Abstract: The present paper examines the effectiveness of financial overcompensation as a means to enhance customer loyalty after a product failure. Overcompensation implies that customers are entitled to a refund that is larger than the purchase price. It is, however, still unclear whether large overcompensations entail saturation effects, or alternatively, result in an actual drop in customer loyalty. We predicted that the overcompensation-loyalty relationship is generally characterized by an inverted U-shaped function. In line with this prediction, the results of four studies showed that mild overcompensations had, on average, a positive effect on customer loyalty beyond equal compensation, but only up to compensation levels of approximately 150% of the purchase price of faulty products. Beyond this level, the effectiveness of overcompensation diminished, eventually leading to a general drop in customer loyalty. Despite this overall pattern, two studies revealed robust individual differences in how customers react to increasing overcompensation. A majority of customers increased their loyalty when the overcompensation enlarged, but the curve flattened out in the high range. However, there was also a smaller portion of customers who reacted negatively to every form of overcompensation. A practical implication of these findings, therefore, is that companies should not offer compensations that are greater than 150% of the initial price, as these do not contribute to greater loyalty in any category of customers.
Judgment and Decision Making, March 2017, Pages 183–197
http://journal.sjdm.org/16/16929/jdm16929.pdf
Abstract: The present paper examines the effectiveness of financial overcompensation as a means to enhance customer loyalty after a product failure. Overcompensation implies that customers are entitled to a refund that is larger than the purchase price. It is, however, still unclear whether large overcompensations entail saturation effects, or alternatively, result in an actual drop in customer loyalty. We predicted that the overcompensation-loyalty relationship is generally characterized by an inverted U-shaped function. In line with this prediction, the results of four studies showed that mild overcompensations had, on average, a positive effect on customer loyalty beyond equal compensation, but only up to compensation levels of approximately 150% of the purchase price of faulty products. Beyond this level, the effectiveness of overcompensation diminished, eventually leading to a general drop in customer loyalty. Despite this overall pattern, two studies revealed robust individual differences in how customers react to increasing overcompensation. A majority of customers increased their loyalty when the overcompensation enlarged, but the curve flattened out in the high range. However, there was also a smaller portion of customers who reacted negatively to every form of overcompensation. A practical implication of these findings, therefore, is that companies should not offer compensations that are greater than 150% of the initial price, as these do not contribute to greater loyalty in any category of customers.
Monday, July 24, 2017
US cities must unlock the value of the land they sit on
US cities must unlock the value of the land they sit on, by Matthew Klein
There is an answer to local governments’ pension obligations and under-investment
Financial Times, July 21, 2017
https://www.ft.com/content/e20bd8d4-6de5-11e7-bfeb-33fe0c5b7eaa
Boston’s Logan International Airport was built in the wrong place. Instead of occupying undesirable plots on the outskirts of the city, it sits on almost 1,000 hectares of easily accessible waterfront property close to the urban core. The land should be home to condos and office towers, not take-offs and landings.
The question is whether it’s worth paying the high cost to move the airport for benefits that will not be realised for decades. Nobody knows. Today’s politicians will be long gone by then and have no incentive to explore whether the move would make the city better off in the long run.
The financial system provides a way round this problem: wise cities can use the market as a time machine to reap rewards today for good decisions about future investments. This would require cities to adopt the accounting and governance standards sought by activist investors in hoteliers, retailers and chain restaurants. In particular, cities should separate their real estate assets from the services they provide to their residents.
The potential rewards would be enormous. Excluding public parks, local governments own about a fifth of all the land within many US cities’ limits. It is worth at least $25tn, according to Dag Detter and Stefan Fölster in The Public Wealth of Cities. That figure dwarfs the $3.8tn in municipal bond debt and $7.5tn in accumulated pension obligations collectively owed by the US’s states and localities. Capturing this value and boosting yields by even a tiny amount could generate more than enough income to pay benefits to retired workers, invest in maintenance and develop additional infrastructure to accommodate growing populations.
Governments could start by figuring out the real value of what they own. Weirdly, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board thinks doing this for physical assets is too hard and “may negatively affect timeliness of financial reporting”. The result is that municipalities publish balance sheets with implausibly low estimates of their net worth. The Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns Logan airport, claims its landholdings are worth just $226.5m and that its total capital assets net of depreciation are worth about $3.1bn. A rough estimate suggests the value of the land under the airport alone could easily be worth tens of billions if dollars.
The next step would be transferring ownership of these assets to what Detter and Fölster call an “urban wealth fund”. Ideally, all publicly owned assets in a given city would be placed in the fund, regardless of whether they technically belong to the county, the city, the school system, the state or some other entity. The local governments would each have shares in the fund proportionate to the value of the assets they contributed. These shares would be reported as assets on the municipal balance sheets.
Independent managers with experience in real estate and finance would be charged with maximising the value of the portfolio. Cities would receive dividends from their stakes in these commercial properties and have the option to borrow against or sell their shares if desperate for cash.
Public officials would then have to decide whether it makes sense to pay fair market rents to stay in their properties. Moving offices might be inconvenient for government workers but the potential gains for taxpayers and citizens who depend on government services would be far greater. Leasing space in subway stations to shops might detract from the “historic” character of the US’s barbarous public transit systems, but the revenues could fund needed improvements, such as ventilation, without the need for debt or higher passenger fares.
The urban wealth fund wouldn’t have to be run purely for profit. Segments within the portfolio could have separate goals as long as they are simple and quantifiable. Public housing, for example, could be boosted by increasing density on existing plots and funding improvements by developing some of the freed-up land to sell at higher prices, as Andrew Adonis, head of the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission, has suggested.
Boston can afford to leave money on the table because the local economy has been booming and the city’s general obligation bonds have the country’s highest credit ratings. Other cities, such as Chicago, are being forced to cut services and raise taxes because of financial stress. Yet they, too, have enormous stocks of untapped wealth. With better governance, professional asset management and a little financial engineering, they could raise the money they need and invest.
matt.klein@ft.com
@M_C_Klein
There is an answer to local governments’ pension obligations and under-investment
Financial Times, July 21, 2017
https://www.ft.com/content/e20bd8d4-6de5-11e7-bfeb-33fe0c5b7eaa
Boston’s Logan International Airport was built in the wrong place. Instead of occupying undesirable plots on the outskirts of the city, it sits on almost 1,000 hectares of easily accessible waterfront property close to the urban core. The land should be home to condos and office towers, not take-offs and landings.
The question is whether it’s worth paying the high cost to move the airport for benefits that will not be realised for decades. Nobody knows. Today’s politicians will be long gone by then and have no incentive to explore whether the move would make the city better off in the long run.
The financial system provides a way round this problem: wise cities can use the market as a time machine to reap rewards today for good decisions about future investments. This would require cities to adopt the accounting and governance standards sought by activist investors in hoteliers, retailers and chain restaurants. In particular, cities should separate their real estate assets from the services they provide to their residents.
The potential rewards would be enormous. Excluding public parks, local governments own about a fifth of all the land within many US cities’ limits. It is worth at least $25tn, according to Dag Detter and Stefan Fölster in The Public Wealth of Cities. That figure dwarfs the $3.8tn in municipal bond debt and $7.5tn in accumulated pension obligations collectively owed by the US’s states and localities. Capturing this value and boosting yields by even a tiny amount could generate more than enough income to pay benefits to retired workers, invest in maintenance and develop additional infrastructure to accommodate growing populations.
Governments could start by figuring out the real value of what they own. Weirdly, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board thinks doing this for physical assets is too hard and “may negatively affect timeliness of financial reporting”. The result is that municipalities publish balance sheets with implausibly low estimates of their net worth. The Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns Logan airport, claims its landholdings are worth just $226.5m and that its total capital assets net of depreciation are worth about $3.1bn. A rough estimate suggests the value of the land under the airport alone could easily be worth tens of billions if dollars.
The next step would be transferring ownership of these assets to what Detter and Fölster call an “urban wealth fund”. Ideally, all publicly owned assets in a given city would be placed in the fund, regardless of whether they technically belong to the county, the city, the school system, the state or some other entity. The local governments would each have shares in the fund proportionate to the value of the assets they contributed. These shares would be reported as assets on the municipal balance sheets.
Independent managers with experience in real estate and finance would be charged with maximising the value of the portfolio. Cities would receive dividends from their stakes in these commercial properties and have the option to borrow against or sell their shares if desperate for cash.
Public officials would then have to decide whether it makes sense to pay fair market rents to stay in their properties. Moving offices might be inconvenient for government workers but the potential gains for taxpayers and citizens who depend on government services would be far greater. Leasing space in subway stations to shops might detract from the “historic” character of the US’s barbarous public transit systems, but the revenues could fund needed improvements, such as ventilation, without the need for debt or higher passenger fares.
The urban wealth fund wouldn’t have to be run purely for profit. Segments within the portfolio could have separate goals as long as they are simple and quantifiable. Public housing, for example, could be boosted by increasing density on existing plots and funding improvements by developing some of the freed-up land to sell at higher prices, as Andrew Adonis, head of the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission, has suggested.
Boston can afford to leave money on the table because the local economy has been booming and the city’s general obligation bonds have the country’s highest credit ratings. Other cities, such as Chicago, are being forced to cut services and raise taxes because of financial stress. Yet they, too, have enormous stocks of untapped wealth. With better governance, professional asset management and a little financial engineering, they could raise the money they need and invest.
matt.klein@ft.com
@M_C_Klein
Monday, July 10, 2017
The Perils of Proclaiming an Authentic Organizational Identity
The Perils of Proclaiming an Authentic Organizational Identity. By Balázs Kovács, Glenn Carroll & David Lehman. Sociological Science, January 2017, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/perils-proclaiming-authentic-organizational-identity
Abstract: An emerging body of research consistently demonstrates that individuals in developed consumer markets value authenticity. But how individuals respond to organizations that tout their identities as authentic is not so well understood. We argue that organizational attempts at explicitly proclaiming their own identity as authentic will generally be regarded by individuals with skepticism and devaluation. Across two studies with different research designs, we find consistent empirical evidence that individuals devalue organizations making identity self-claims of authenticity. The first study analyzed authenticity claims made in the texts of menus from 1,393 restaurants in Los Angeles and their corresponding 450,492 online consumer reviews recorded from 2009 to 2016. The second study used a controlled, minimalistic experimental setting with fictitious restaurant menus that examined reactions to generic authenticity self-claims. The findings illuminate how individuals respond to organizational identity claims about authenticity and raise interesting questions about other types of identity claims.
Abstract: An emerging body of research consistently demonstrates that individuals in developed consumer markets value authenticity. But how individuals respond to organizations that tout their identities as authentic is not so well understood. We argue that organizational attempts at explicitly proclaiming their own identity as authentic will generally be regarded by individuals with skepticism and devaluation. Across two studies with different research designs, we find consistent empirical evidence that individuals devalue organizations making identity self-claims of authenticity. The first study analyzed authenticity claims made in the texts of menus from 1,393 restaurants in Los Angeles and their corresponding 450,492 online consumer reviews recorded from 2009 to 2016. The second study used a controlled, minimalistic experimental setting with fictitious restaurant menus that examined reactions to generic authenticity self-claims. The findings illuminate how individuals respond to organizational identity claims about authenticity and raise interesting questions about other types of identity claims.
Distress tolerance and physiological reactivity to stress predict women’s problematic alcohol use
Distress tolerance and physiological reactivity to stress predict women’s problematic alcohol use. By Holzhauer, Cathryn Glanton; Wemm, Stephanie; Wulfert, Edelgard
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol 25(3), Jun 2017, 156-165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pha0000116
Abstract: Research has shown that measures of reactivity to distress—including distress tolerance and physiological reactivity to stress—are dysregulated in women who misuse alcohol. These variables may interact and create a risk profile for young adult women, reflecting patterns of stress reactivity that confer a risk for alcohol misuse. The current study tested this hypothesis by examining the independent and interactive associations of subjective distress tolerance, behavioral distress tolerance, and physiological stress reactivity with women’s alcohol misuse. The study was conducted with a sample of 91 college women recruited on a large northeastern university campus. Results showed that subjective levels of distress tolerance and physiological reactivity to stress (skin conductance reactivity, SCR), but not behavioral distress tolerance, were independently associated with alcohol misuse. In addition, subjective distress tolerance moderated the relationship between SCR and negative alcohol-related consequences. Specifically, women with low physiological reactivity (SCR) to a stressful task and greater urge to quickly rid themselves of distress (low subjective distress tolerance) endorsed a significantly greater number of adverse consequences from their alcohol use. These results extend prior findings by showing that, even among a nonclinical sample of women, lower stress reactivity in combination with low subjective distress tolerance is associated with increased risk for various drinking-related negative consequences.
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol 25(3), Jun 2017, 156-165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pha0000116
Abstract: Research has shown that measures of reactivity to distress—including distress tolerance and physiological reactivity to stress—are dysregulated in women who misuse alcohol. These variables may interact and create a risk profile for young adult women, reflecting patterns of stress reactivity that confer a risk for alcohol misuse. The current study tested this hypothesis by examining the independent and interactive associations of subjective distress tolerance, behavioral distress tolerance, and physiological stress reactivity with women’s alcohol misuse. The study was conducted with a sample of 91 college women recruited on a large northeastern university campus. Results showed that subjective levels of distress tolerance and physiological reactivity to stress (skin conductance reactivity, SCR), but not behavioral distress tolerance, were independently associated with alcohol misuse. In addition, subjective distress tolerance moderated the relationship between SCR and negative alcohol-related consequences. Specifically, women with low physiological reactivity (SCR) to a stressful task and greater urge to quickly rid themselves of distress (low subjective distress tolerance) endorsed a significantly greater number of adverse consequences from their alcohol use. These results extend prior findings by showing that, even among a nonclinical sample of women, lower stress reactivity in combination with low subjective distress tolerance is associated with increased risk for various drinking-related negative consequences.
Cognitive functioning, aging, and work: A review and recommendations for research and practice
Cognitive functioning, aging, and work: A review and recommendations for research and practice. By Fisher, Gwenith G.; Chaffee, Dorey S.; Tetrick, Lois E.; Davalos, Deana B.; Potter, Guy G.
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol 22(3), Jul 2017, 314-336. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000086
Abstract: There is a larger proportion and number of older adults in the labor force than ever before. Furthermore, older adults in the workforce are working until later ages. Although a great deal of research has examined physical health and well-being of working older adults, less research has focused on cognitive functioning. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad contemporary and multidisciplinary review of the intersection between cognitive functioning, aging, and work as a follow-up to a paper previously written by Fisher et al. (2014). We begin by providing definitions and background about cognitive functioning and how it changes over the life span. Next we discuss theories relevant to the intersection of cognitive functioning and work, including the use-it-or-lose-it hypothesis, the cognitive reserve hypothesis, hypotheses regarding environmental influences on intellectual functioning, and the job-demands-resources model. Then we summarize recent research about the effects of work on cognitive functioning, as well as ways that cognitive functioning may influence work motivation, learning, development, training, and safety. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of person-environment fit, suggesting avenues for future research, and discussing practical implications for the field of occupational health psychology.
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol 22(3), Jul 2017, 314-336. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000086
Abstract: There is a larger proportion and number of older adults in the labor force than ever before. Furthermore, older adults in the workforce are working until later ages. Although a great deal of research has examined physical health and well-being of working older adults, less research has focused on cognitive functioning. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad contemporary and multidisciplinary review of the intersection between cognitive functioning, aging, and work as a follow-up to a paper previously written by Fisher et al. (2014). We begin by providing definitions and background about cognitive functioning and how it changes over the life span. Next we discuss theories relevant to the intersection of cognitive functioning and work, including the use-it-or-lose-it hypothesis, the cognitive reserve hypothesis, hypotheses regarding environmental influences on intellectual functioning, and the job-demands-resources model. Then we summarize recent research about the effects of work on cognitive functioning, as well as ways that cognitive functioning may influence work motivation, learning, development, training, and safety. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of person-environment fit, suggesting avenues for future research, and discussing practical implications for the field of occupational health psychology.
In search of the psychological antecedents and consequences of Christian conversion: A three-year prospective study
In search of the psychological antecedents and consequences of Christian conversion: A three-year prospective study. By Hui, C. Harry; Cheung, Sing-Hang; Lam, Jasmine; Lau, Esther Yuet Ying; Yuliawati, Livia; Cheung, Shu Fai
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Vol 9(2), May 2017, 220-230. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rel0000082
Abstract: Religious conversion is often an overwhelming experience. Although self-reports by some converts about life before and after conversion often contain vivid descriptions of the type and extent of changes, few rigorous empirical studies have documented them. This 3-year longitudinal prospective study aimed to understand the precursors of conversion, and whether this event would result in psychological changes. A logistic regression on 455 non-Christian Chinese (of whom 46 later became Christian converts) showed that neither baseline personality, personal values, social axioms, nor psychological symptoms predicted whether one would be converted during the next three years. However, people who thought that there is one and only one true religion were more likely than others to be converted. We further formed a matched sample of 92 individuals who had been Christians throughout the study, and a matched sample of 92 nonbelievers who remained so throughout the study. Comparison between measures taken at the baseline and end of the study period showed that converted people were transformed not in personality but in symptoms of stress and anxiety, as well as several personal values.
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Vol 9(2), May 2017, 220-230. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rel0000082
Abstract: Religious conversion is often an overwhelming experience. Although self-reports by some converts about life before and after conversion often contain vivid descriptions of the type and extent of changes, few rigorous empirical studies have documented them. This 3-year longitudinal prospective study aimed to understand the precursors of conversion, and whether this event would result in psychological changes. A logistic regression on 455 non-Christian Chinese (of whom 46 later became Christian converts) showed that neither baseline personality, personal values, social axioms, nor psychological symptoms predicted whether one would be converted during the next three years. However, people who thought that there is one and only one true religion were more likely than others to be converted. We further formed a matched sample of 92 individuals who had been Christians throughout the study, and a matched sample of 92 nonbelievers who remained so throughout the study. Comparison between measures taken at the baseline and end of the study period showed that converted people were transformed not in personality but in symptoms of stress and anxiety, as well as several personal values.
Gaming the Chevron Doctrine?
Gaming the Chevron Doctrine? By Kent Barnett, Christina Boyd & Christopher Walker
University of Georgia Working Paper, June 2017, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2984302
Abstract: Do federal circuit courts consistently apply Chevron deference's framework when reviewing agency statutory interpretations? Or do political dynamics result in courts gaming the Chevron doctrine? To answer these questions, we empirically analyze circuit-court decisions from 2003 until 2013 that review agency statutory interpretations. Our results - from the largest and most comprehensive database of its kind - confirm longstanding intuition and earlier, more limited studies: courts do not consistently apply Chevron. Our findings, nevertheless, offer some surprising insights into the political dynamics of applying Chevron. When courts reviewed liberal agency interpretations, all panels - liberal, moderate, and conservative - were equally likely to apply Chevron. But when reviewing conservative agency interpretations, liberal panels applied Chevron significantly less frequently than conservative panels. Contrary to limited prior studies, we find no evidence of "whistleblower" or disciplining effects when judges of different judicial ideologies comprised the panel. Viewed together, our results provide important implications for the current debate on whether to eliminate, narrow, or clarify Chevron's domain.
Keywords: Administrative Law, Deference, Judicial Review, Chevron, Skidmore
University of Georgia Working Paper, June 2017, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2984302
Abstract: Do federal circuit courts consistently apply Chevron deference's framework when reviewing agency statutory interpretations? Or do political dynamics result in courts gaming the Chevron doctrine? To answer these questions, we empirically analyze circuit-court decisions from 2003 until 2013 that review agency statutory interpretations. Our results - from the largest and most comprehensive database of its kind - confirm longstanding intuition and earlier, more limited studies: courts do not consistently apply Chevron. Our findings, nevertheless, offer some surprising insights into the political dynamics of applying Chevron. When courts reviewed liberal agency interpretations, all panels - liberal, moderate, and conservative - were equally likely to apply Chevron. But when reviewing conservative agency interpretations, liberal panels applied Chevron significantly less frequently than conservative panels. Contrary to limited prior studies, we find no evidence of "whistleblower" or disciplining effects when judges of different judicial ideologies comprised the panel. Viewed together, our results provide important implications for the current debate on whether to eliminate, narrow, or clarify Chevron's domain.
Keywords: Administrative Law, Deference, Judicial Review, Chevron, Skidmore
Standards of Beauty: The Impact of Mannequins in the Retail Context
Standards of Beauty: The Impact of Mannequins in the Retail Context. By Jennifer Argo & Darren Dahl
Journal of Consumer Research, https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jcr/ucx072/3861627/Standards-of-Beauty-The-Impact-of-Mannequins-in?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Abstract: Across six studies, a female mannequin is demonstrated to have negative implications for both male and female consumers low in appearance self-esteem. In particular, consumers who are lower in appearance self-esteem evaluate a product displayed by a mannequin more negatively as compared with consumers higher in appearance self-esteem. As mannequins signal the normative standard of beauty and consumers with low self-esteem in regard to their appearance believe they fail to meet this standard, these consumers become threatened by the beauty standard when exposed to a mannequin and in response denigrate the product the mannequin is displaying. Evidence for the underlying process is provided in three ways: 1) the finding that the effect for male and female consumers with low appearance self-esteem only arises when the mannequin is displaying an appearance-related product, 2) through mediation analysis that demonstrates that the mannequin conveys society’s standard of beauty and that this negatively impacts product evaluations, and 3) the mitigation of the effect by removing the presence of threat via a self-affirmation task or decreasing the mannequin’s beauty (e.g., marking its face, removing its hair, or removing its head). Multiple avenues for future research are forwarded.
Keywords: mannequins, global comparisons, retail
Journal of Consumer Research, https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jcr/ucx072/3861627/Standards-of-Beauty-The-Impact-of-Mannequins-in?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Abstract: Across six studies, a female mannequin is demonstrated to have negative implications for both male and female consumers low in appearance self-esteem. In particular, consumers who are lower in appearance self-esteem evaluate a product displayed by a mannequin more negatively as compared with consumers higher in appearance self-esteem. As mannequins signal the normative standard of beauty and consumers with low self-esteem in regard to their appearance believe they fail to meet this standard, these consumers become threatened by the beauty standard when exposed to a mannequin and in response denigrate the product the mannequin is displaying. Evidence for the underlying process is provided in three ways: 1) the finding that the effect for male and female consumers with low appearance self-esteem only arises when the mannequin is displaying an appearance-related product, 2) through mediation analysis that demonstrates that the mannequin conveys society’s standard of beauty and that this negatively impacts product evaluations, and 3) the mitigation of the effect by removing the presence of threat via a self-affirmation task or decreasing the mannequin’s beauty (e.g., marking its face, removing its hair, or removing its head). Multiple avenues for future research are forwarded.
Keywords: mannequins, global comparisons, retail
Facial Profiling: Race, Physical Appearance, and Punishment
Facial Profiling: Race, Physical Appearance, and Punishment. By Brian Johnson & Ryan King
Criminology, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1745-9125.12143/abstract
Abstract: We investigate the associations among physical appearance, threat perceptions, and criminal punishment. Psychological ideas about impression formation are integrated with criminological perspectives on sentencing to generate and test unique hypotheses about the associations among defendant facial characteristics, subjective evaluations of threatening appearance, and judicial imprisonment decisions. We analyze newly collected data that link booking photos, criminal histories, and sentencing information for more than 1,100 convicted felony defendants. Our findings indicate that Black defendants are perceived to be more threatening in appearance. Other facial characteristics, such as physical attractiveness, baby-faced appearance, facial scars, and visible tattoos, also influence perceptions of threat, as do criminal history scores. Furthermore, some physical appearance characteristics are significantly related to imprisonment decisions, even after controlling for other relevant case characteristics. These and other findings are discussed as they relate to psychological research on impression formation, criminological theories of court actor decision-making, and sociological work on race and punishment.
Criminology, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1745-9125.12143/abstract
Abstract: We investigate the associations among physical appearance, threat perceptions, and criminal punishment. Psychological ideas about impression formation are integrated with criminological perspectives on sentencing to generate and test unique hypotheses about the associations among defendant facial characteristics, subjective evaluations of threatening appearance, and judicial imprisonment decisions. We analyze newly collected data that link booking photos, criminal histories, and sentencing information for more than 1,100 convicted felony defendants. Our findings indicate that Black defendants are perceived to be more threatening in appearance. Other facial characteristics, such as physical attractiveness, baby-faced appearance, facial scars, and visible tattoos, also influence perceptions of threat, as do criminal history scores. Furthermore, some physical appearance characteristics are significantly related to imprisonment decisions, even after controlling for other relevant case characteristics. These and other findings are discussed as they relate to psychological research on impression formation, criminological theories of court actor decision-making, and sociological work on race and punishment.
The Effect of Terrorism on Judicial Confidence - Providing due process for suspected terrorists
The Effect of Terrorism on Judicial Confidence. By Steven Miller
Political Research Quarterly, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1065912917716337
Abstract: Independent judiciaries prevent democratic reversals, facilitate peaceful transitions of power, and legitimate democracy among citizens. We believe this judicial independence is important for citizen-level judicial confidence and faith in democratic institutions. I challenge this and argue that citizens living under terror threats lose confidence in their independent judiciaries. Terror threats lead citizens to enable the state leader to provide counterterrorism for their security, which has important implications for interbranch relations between the executive and the judiciary. Citizens lose confidence in independent judiciaries that provide due process for suspected terrorists. I test my argument with mixed effects models that incorporate the Global Terrorism Database and four waves of European Values Survey. The analyses demonstrate the negative effects of terror threats on judicial confidence when interacting terror threats with measures of judicial independence. My findings have important implications for the study of democratic confidence and the liberty-security dilemma.
Political Research Quarterly, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1065912917716337
Abstract: Independent judiciaries prevent democratic reversals, facilitate peaceful transitions of power, and legitimate democracy among citizens. We believe this judicial independence is important for citizen-level judicial confidence and faith in democratic institutions. I challenge this and argue that citizens living under terror threats lose confidence in their independent judiciaries. Terror threats lead citizens to enable the state leader to provide counterterrorism for their security, which has important implications for interbranch relations between the executive and the judiciary. Citizens lose confidence in independent judiciaries that provide due process for suspected terrorists. I test my argument with mixed effects models that incorporate the Global Terrorism Database and four waves of European Values Survey. The analyses demonstrate the negative effects of terror threats on judicial confidence when interacting terror threats with measures of judicial independence. My findings have important implications for the study of democratic confidence and the liberty-security dilemma.
The impact of bereaved parents’ perceived grief similarity on relationship satisfaction
The impact of bereaved parents’ perceived grief similarity on relationship satisfaction. By Buyukcan-Tetik, Asuman; Finkenauer, Catrin; Schut, Henk; Stroebe, Margaret; Stroebe, Wolfgang
Journal of Family Psychology, Vol 31(4), Jun 2017, 409-419. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000252
Abstract: The present research focused on bereaved parents’ perceived grief similarity, and aimed to investigate the concurrent and longitudinal effects of the perceptions that the partner has less, equal, or more grief intensity than oneself on relationship satisfaction. Participants of our longitudinal study were 229 heterosexual bereaved Dutch couples who completed questionnaires 6, 13, and 20 months after the loss of their child. Average age of participants was 40.7 (SD = 9.5). Across 3 study waves, participants’ perceived grief similarity and relationship satisfaction were assessed. To control for their effects, own grief level, child’s gender, expectedness of loss, parent’s age, parent’s gender, and time were also included in the analyses. Consistent with the hypotheses, cross-sectional results revealed that bereaved parents who perceived dissimilar levels of grief (less or more grief) had lower relationship satisfaction than bereaved parents who perceived similar levels of grief. This effect remained significant controlling for the effects of possible confounding variables and actual similarity in grief between partners. We also found that perceived grief similarity at the first study wave was related to the highest level of relationship satisfaction at the second study wave. Moreover, results showed that perceived grief similarity was associated with a higher level in partner’s relationship satisfaction. Results are discussed considering the comparison and similarity in grief across bereaved partners after child loss.
Journal of Family Psychology, Vol 31(4), Jun 2017, 409-419. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000252
Abstract: The present research focused on bereaved parents’ perceived grief similarity, and aimed to investigate the concurrent and longitudinal effects of the perceptions that the partner has less, equal, or more grief intensity than oneself on relationship satisfaction. Participants of our longitudinal study were 229 heterosexual bereaved Dutch couples who completed questionnaires 6, 13, and 20 months after the loss of their child. Average age of participants was 40.7 (SD = 9.5). Across 3 study waves, participants’ perceived grief similarity and relationship satisfaction were assessed. To control for their effects, own grief level, child’s gender, expectedness of loss, parent’s age, parent’s gender, and time were also included in the analyses. Consistent with the hypotheses, cross-sectional results revealed that bereaved parents who perceived dissimilar levels of grief (less or more grief) had lower relationship satisfaction than bereaved parents who perceived similar levels of grief. This effect remained significant controlling for the effects of possible confounding variables and actual similarity in grief between partners. We also found that perceived grief similarity at the first study wave was related to the highest level of relationship satisfaction at the second study wave. Moreover, results showed that perceived grief similarity was associated with a higher level in partner’s relationship satisfaction. Results are discussed considering the comparison and similarity in grief across bereaved partners after child loss.
Overstated evidence for short-term effects of violent games on affect and behavior: A reanalysis of Anderson et al. (2010)
Overstated evidence for short-term effects of violent games on affect and behavior: A reanalysis of Anderson et al. (2010). By Hilgard, Joseph; Engelhardt, Christopher R.; Rouder, Jeffrey N.
Psychological Bulletin, Vol 143(7), Jul 2017, 757-774. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000074
Abstract: Violent video games are theorized to be a significant cause of aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Important evidence for this claim comes from a large meta-analysis by Anderson and colleagues (2010), who found effects of violent games in experimental, cross-sectional, and longitudinal research. In that meta-analysis, the authors argued that there is little publication or analytic bias in the literature, an argument supported by their use of the trim-and-fill procedure. In the present manuscript, we reexamine their meta-analysis using a wider array of techniques for detecting bias and adjusting effect sizes. Our conclusions differ from those of Anderson and colleagues in 3 salient ways. First, we detect substantial publication bias in experimental research on the effects of violent games on aggressive affect and aggressive behavior. Second, after adjustment for bias, the effects of violent games on aggressive behavior in experimental research are estimated as being very small, and estimates of effects on aggressive affect are much reduced. In contrast, the cross-sectional literature finds correlations that appear largely unbiased. Third, experiments meeting the original authors’ criteria for methodological quality do not yield larger adjusted effects than other experiments, but instead yield larger indications of bias, indicating that perhaps they were selected for significance. We outline future directions for stronger experimental research. The results indicate the need for an open, transparent, and preregistered research process to test the existence of the basic phenomenon.
Psychological Bulletin, Vol 143(7), Jul 2017, 757-774. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000074
Abstract: Violent video games are theorized to be a significant cause of aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Important evidence for this claim comes from a large meta-analysis by Anderson and colleagues (2010), who found effects of violent games in experimental, cross-sectional, and longitudinal research. In that meta-analysis, the authors argued that there is little publication or analytic bias in the literature, an argument supported by their use of the trim-and-fill procedure. In the present manuscript, we reexamine their meta-analysis using a wider array of techniques for detecting bias and adjusting effect sizes. Our conclusions differ from those of Anderson and colleagues in 3 salient ways. First, we detect substantial publication bias in experimental research on the effects of violent games on aggressive affect and aggressive behavior. Second, after adjustment for bias, the effects of violent games on aggressive behavior in experimental research are estimated as being very small, and estimates of effects on aggressive affect are much reduced. In contrast, the cross-sectional literature finds correlations that appear largely unbiased. Third, experiments meeting the original authors’ criteria for methodological quality do not yield larger adjusted effects than other experiments, but instead yield larger indications of bias, indicating that perhaps they were selected for significance. We outline future directions for stronger experimental research. The results indicate the need for an open, transparent, and preregistered research process to test the existence of the basic phenomenon.
Risk factors for PTSD and depression in female survivors of rape
Risk factors for PTSD and depression in female survivors of rape. By Mgoqi-Mbalo, Nolwandle; Zhang, Muyu; Ntuli, Sam.
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, Vol 9(3), May 2017, 301-308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000228
Abstract
Objective: To investigate association of the sociodemographic factors, characteristics of rape and social support to the development of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder at 6 months after the rape. Method: A cross-sectional survey with female survivors of rape was carried out in 3 provinces of South Africa 6 months after the rape.
Results: One hundred female survivors of sexual assault were interviewed. More than half (53%) were from Limpopo, 25% from Western Cape, and 22% from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). 87% reported high levels of PTSD and 51% moderate to severe depression post rape. The major risk factors for PTSD and depression were the unmarried survivors of rape and those living in KZN. The female survivors of rape in KZN province were 7 times more likely to experience symptoms of depression compared to other provinces, while married/cohabiting female rape survivors were 6 times less likely to report symptoms of depression compared to the unmarried female rape survivors.
Conclusion: These findings add support to existing literature on PTSD and depression as common mental health consequence of rape and also provide evidence that survivors’ socio- demographics—marital status, employment status—are significant contributors to the development of symptoms of depression and PTSD after rape. The results have research and clinical practice relevance for ensuring that PTSD and trauma treatment focuses on an in-depth understanding of the various aspects of the sociodemographic factors and rape characteristics that contribute to survivors’ mental state and how these compound stress and depression symptoms over time post rape victimization.
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, Vol 9(3), May 2017, 301-308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000228
Abstract
Objective: To investigate association of the sociodemographic factors, characteristics of rape and social support to the development of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder at 6 months after the rape. Method: A cross-sectional survey with female survivors of rape was carried out in 3 provinces of South Africa 6 months after the rape.
Results: One hundred female survivors of sexual assault were interviewed. More than half (53%) were from Limpopo, 25% from Western Cape, and 22% from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). 87% reported high levels of PTSD and 51% moderate to severe depression post rape. The major risk factors for PTSD and depression were the unmarried survivors of rape and those living in KZN. The female survivors of rape in KZN province were 7 times more likely to experience symptoms of depression compared to other provinces, while married/cohabiting female rape survivors were 6 times less likely to report symptoms of depression compared to the unmarried female rape survivors.
Conclusion: These findings add support to existing literature on PTSD and depression as common mental health consequence of rape and also provide evidence that survivors’ socio- demographics—marital status, employment status—are significant contributors to the development of symptoms of depression and PTSD after rape. The results have research and clinical practice relevance for ensuring that PTSD and trauma treatment focuses on an in-depth understanding of the various aspects of the sociodemographic factors and rape characteristics that contribute to survivors’ mental state and how these compound stress and depression symptoms over time post rape victimization.
Newcomer adjustment: Examining the role of managers’ perception of newcomer proactive behavior during organizational socialization
Newcomer adjustment: Examining the role of managers’ perception of newcomer proactive behavior during organizational socialization. By Ellis, Allison M.; Nifadkar, Sushil S.; Bauer, Talya N.; Erdogan, Berrin
Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 102(6), Jun 2017, 993-1001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000201
Abstract: Separate streams of organizational socialization research have recognized the importance of (a) newcomer proactivity and (b) manager support in facilitating newcomer adjustment. However, extant research has largely focused on the newcomers’ experience, leaving the perspectives of managers during socialization relatively unexplored—a theoretical gap that has implications both for newcomer adjustment and manager-newcomer interactions that may serve as a basis for future relationship development. Drawing from the “interlocked” employee behavior argument of Weick (1979), we propose that managers’ perception of newcomers’ proactive behaviors are associated with concordant manager behaviors, which, in turn, support newcomer adjustment. Further, we investigate a cognitive mechanism—managers’ evaluation of newcomers’ commitment to adjust—which we expect underlies the proposed relationship between newcomers’ proactive behaviors and managers’ supportive behaviors. Using a time-lagged, 4-phase data collection of a sample of new software engineers in India and their managers, we were able to test our hypothesized model as well as rule out alternative explanations via multilevel structural equation modeling. Results broadly supported our model even after controlling for manager-newcomer social exchange relationship, proactive personalities of both newcomers and managers, and potential effects of coworker information providing. The implications of our findings for theory and practice are discussed.
Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 102(6), Jun 2017, 993-1001. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000201
Abstract: Separate streams of organizational socialization research have recognized the importance of (a) newcomer proactivity and (b) manager support in facilitating newcomer adjustment. However, extant research has largely focused on the newcomers’ experience, leaving the perspectives of managers during socialization relatively unexplored—a theoretical gap that has implications both for newcomer adjustment and manager-newcomer interactions that may serve as a basis for future relationship development. Drawing from the “interlocked” employee behavior argument of Weick (1979), we propose that managers’ perception of newcomers’ proactive behaviors are associated with concordant manager behaviors, which, in turn, support newcomer adjustment. Further, we investigate a cognitive mechanism—managers’ evaluation of newcomers’ commitment to adjust—which we expect underlies the proposed relationship between newcomers’ proactive behaviors and managers’ supportive behaviors. Using a time-lagged, 4-phase data collection of a sample of new software engineers in India and their managers, we were able to test our hypothesized model as well as rule out alternative explanations via multilevel structural equation modeling. Results broadly supported our model even after controlling for manager-newcomer social exchange relationship, proactive personalities of both newcomers and managers, and potential effects of coworker information providing. The implications of our findings for theory and practice are discussed.
Racial Diversity and the Dynamics of Authoritarianism
Racial Diversity and the Dynamics of Authoritarianism. By Yamil Ricardo Velez & Howard Lavine
Journal of Politics, April 2017, Pages 519-533, http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/688078
Abstract: Past work on the political impact of racial diversity has focused on direct effects, demonstrating that diverse environments are associated with more negative - or in some circumstances, more positive - racial attitudes and race-targeted policy preferences. We show that diversity functions in a second way, as a variable that magnifies the political impact of individual differences in the psychological disposition of authoritarianism. Using a national sample, we find that in white areas with minimal diversity, authoritarianism had no impact on racial prejudice, political intolerance, and attitudes toward immigration. As diversity rises, however, authoritarianism plays an increasingly dominant role in political judgment. In diverse environments, authoritarians become more racially, ethnically, and politically intolerant and nonauthoritarians less so. We conceptually replicate these findings in a dorm setting with plausibly exogenous levels of local diversity and discuss the implications of our findings in terms of the various ways in which ethno-racial diversity structures political attitudes.
Keywords: diversity, context, public opinion, polarization, personality, authoritarianism.
Journal of Politics, April 2017, Pages 519-533, http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/688078
Abstract: Past work on the political impact of racial diversity has focused on direct effects, demonstrating that diverse environments are associated with more negative - or in some circumstances, more positive - racial attitudes and race-targeted policy preferences. We show that diversity functions in a second way, as a variable that magnifies the political impact of individual differences in the psychological disposition of authoritarianism. Using a national sample, we find that in white areas with minimal diversity, authoritarianism had no impact on racial prejudice, political intolerance, and attitudes toward immigration. As diversity rises, however, authoritarianism plays an increasingly dominant role in political judgment. In diverse environments, authoritarians become more racially, ethnically, and politically intolerant and nonauthoritarians less so. We conceptually replicate these findings in a dorm setting with plausibly exogenous levels of local diversity and discuss the implications of our findings in terms of the various ways in which ethno-racial diversity structures political attitudes.
Keywords: diversity, context, public opinion, polarization, personality, authoritarianism.
Stealth Democracy Revisited: Reconsidering Preferences for Less Visible Government.
Stealth Democracy Revisited: Reconsidering Preferences for Less Visible Government. By Kathryn VanderMolen
Political Research Quarterly, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1065912917712478
Abstract: Understanding public preferences for governing processes is an understudied area of research. In this paper, I evaluate a set of critical assumptions relating to process preferences that the literature has thus far not addressed. I specifically address the claims made by John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse in their seminal book, Stealth Democracy, which suggests that people prefer political decisions to be made via expert-based governing arrangements to promote a level of efficiency and effectiveness within the government that elected officials cannot provide. Using original questions from the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, I find concurring evidence that citizens are not strongly attached to standard participatory processes found in democracy. However, upon using more precise measurements and placing expert processes into contemporary context, preferences weaken and appear to be shallow in nature. In an era where process preferences are receiving more attention as trust in government wanes, it is important to understand the depth of these preferences and their potential to change politics. These results suggest it is imperative for future scholars to approach the study of process preferences with care.
Political Research Quarterly, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1065912917712478
Abstract: Understanding public preferences for governing processes is an understudied area of research. In this paper, I evaluate a set of critical assumptions relating to process preferences that the literature has thus far not addressed. I specifically address the claims made by John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse in their seminal book, Stealth Democracy, which suggests that people prefer political decisions to be made via expert-based governing arrangements to promote a level of efficiency and effectiveness within the government that elected officials cannot provide. Using original questions from the 2014 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, I find concurring evidence that citizens are not strongly attached to standard participatory processes found in democracy. However, upon using more precise measurements and placing expert processes into contemporary context, preferences weaken and appear to be shallow in nature. In an era where process preferences are receiving more attention as trust in government wanes, it is important to understand the depth of these preferences and their potential to change politics. These results suggest it is imperative for future scholars to approach the study of process preferences with care.
Trust is heritable, whereas distrust is not
Trust is heritable, whereas distrust is not. By Martin Reimann, Oliver Schilke & Karen Cook
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, http://www.pnas.org/content/114/27/7007.abstract
Significance: Social scientists have devoted much attention to studying the sources and consequences of the disposition to trust but have only recently begun to investigate the disposition to distrust. An increasing consensus is emerging that distrust is not merely the opposite of trust. This article provides initial empirical evidence indicating that the sources of the dispositions to trust and distrust indeed do differ in important ways. Notably, although both trust and distrust are strongly influenced by the individual’s unique environment, interestingly, trust shows significant genetic influences, whereas distrust does not. Rather, distrust appears to be primarily socialized, including influences within the family. These findings provide new support for the bidimensionality of trust and distrust by demonstrating their distinct antecedents.
Abstract: Why do people distrust others in social exchange? To what degree, if at all, is distrust subject to genetic influences, and thus possibly heritable, and to what degree is it nurtured by families and immediate peers who encourage young people to be vigilant and suspicious of others? Answering these questions could provide fundamental clues about the sources of individual differences in the disposition to distrust, including how they may differ from the sources of individual differences in the disposition to trust. In this article, we report the results of a study of monozygotic and dizygotic female twins who were asked to decide either how much of a counterpart player's monetary endowment they wanted to take from their counterpart (i.e., distrust) or how much of their own monetary endowment they wanted to send to their counterpart (i.e., trust). Our results demonstrate that although the disposition to trust is explained to some extent by heritability but not by shared socialization, the disposition to distrust is explained by shared socialization but not by heritability. The sources of distrust are therefore distinct from the sources of trust in many ways.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, http://www.pnas.org/content/114/27/7007.abstract
Significance: Social scientists have devoted much attention to studying the sources and consequences of the disposition to trust but have only recently begun to investigate the disposition to distrust. An increasing consensus is emerging that distrust is not merely the opposite of trust. This article provides initial empirical evidence indicating that the sources of the dispositions to trust and distrust indeed do differ in important ways. Notably, although both trust and distrust are strongly influenced by the individual’s unique environment, interestingly, trust shows significant genetic influences, whereas distrust does not. Rather, distrust appears to be primarily socialized, including influences within the family. These findings provide new support for the bidimensionality of trust and distrust by demonstrating their distinct antecedents.
Abstract: Why do people distrust others in social exchange? To what degree, if at all, is distrust subject to genetic influences, and thus possibly heritable, and to what degree is it nurtured by families and immediate peers who encourage young people to be vigilant and suspicious of others? Answering these questions could provide fundamental clues about the sources of individual differences in the disposition to distrust, including how they may differ from the sources of individual differences in the disposition to trust. In this article, we report the results of a study of monozygotic and dizygotic female twins who were asked to decide either how much of a counterpart player's monetary endowment they wanted to take from their counterpart (i.e., distrust) or how much of their own monetary endowment they wanted to send to their counterpart (i.e., trust). Our results demonstrate that although the disposition to trust is explained to some extent by heritability but not by shared socialization, the disposition to distrust is explained by shared socialization but not by heritability. The sources of distrust are therefore distinct from the sources of trust in many ways.
Body-Weight and Women's Hours of Work: More Evidence that Marriage Markets Matter
Body-Weight and Women's Hours of Work: More Evidence that Marriage Markets Matter. By Shoshana Amyra Grossbard & Sankar Mukhopadhyay
San Diego State University Working Paper, May 2017, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2979921
Abstract: Higher body-weight (BMI) can affect labor supply via its effects on outcomes in both labor markets and marriage markets. To the extent that it is associated with lower prospects of being in couple and obtaining intra-couple transfers, we expect that higher BMI will increase willingness to supply labor in labor markets, especially for women. We use US panel data from the NLSY79 and NLSY97 to examine whether body weight influences hours of work in the labor market. We use sibling BMI as an instrument for own BMI to address potential endogeneity of BMI in hours worked. We find that White women with higher BMI work more. This is true for both single and married White women. Results for other groups of women and men produce mixed results. The extended analysis suggests that what drives the relationship between BMI and hours worked is not lower market wages earned by high-BMI women, but rather lower spousal transfers to married women or lower expected intra-marriage transfers to single women.
San Diego State University Working Paper, May 2017, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2979921
Abstract: Higher body-weight (BMI) can affect labor supply via its effects on outcomes in both labor markets and marriage markets. To the extent that it is associated with lower prospects of being in couple and obtaining intra-couple transfers, we expect that higher BMI will increase willingness to supply labor in labor markets, especially for women. We use US panel data from the NLSY79 and NLSY97 to examine whether body weight influences hours of work in the labor market. We use sibling BMI as an instrument for own BMI to address potential endogeneity of BMI in hours worked. We find that White women with higher BMI work more. This is true for both single and married White women. Results for other groups of women and men produce mixed results. The extended analysis suggests that what drives the relationship between BMI and hours worked is not lower market wages earned by high-BMI women, but rather lower spousal transfers to married women or lower expected intra-marriage transfers to single women.
Stimulus selectivity of drug purchase tasks: A preliminary study evaluating alcohol and cigarette demand
Stimulus selectivity of drug purchase tasks: A preliminary study evaluating alcohol and cigarette demand. By Strickland, Justin C.; Stoops, William W. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol 25(3), Jun 2017, 198-207. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pha0000123
Abstract: The use of drug purchase tasks to measure drug demand in human behavioral pharmacology and addiction research has proliferated in recent years. Few studies have systematically evaluated the stimulus selectivity of drug purchase tasks to demonstrate that demand metrics are specific to valuation of or demand for the commodity under study. Stimulus selectivity is broadly defined for this purpose as a condition under which a specific stimulus input or target (e.g., alcohol, cigarettes) is the primary determinant of behavior (e.g., demand). The overall goal of the present study was to evaluate the stimulus selectivity of drug purchase tasks. Participants were sampled from the Amazon.com’s crowdsourcing platform Mechanical Turk. Participants completed either alcohol and soda purchase tasks (Experiment 1; N = 139) or cigarette and chocolate purchase tasks (Experiment 2; N = 46), and demand metrics were compared to self-reported use behaviors. Demand metrics for alcohol and soda were closely associated with commodity-similar (e.g., alcohol demand and weekly alcohol use) but not commodity-different (e.g., alcohol demand and weekly soda use) variables. A similar pattern was observed for cigarette and chocolate demand, but selectivity was not as consistent as for alcohol and soda. Collectively, we observed robust selectivity for alcohol and soda purchase tasks and modest selectivity for cigarette and chocolate purchase tasks. These preliminary outcomes suggest that demand metrics adequately reflect the specific commodity under study and support the continued use of purchase tasks in substance use research
Abstract: The use of drug purchase tasks to measure drug demand in human behavioral pharmacology and addiction research has proliferated in recent years. Few studies have systematically evaluated the stimulus selectivity of drug purchase tasks to demonstrate that demand metrics are specific to valuation of or demand for the commodity under study. Stimulus selectivity is broadly defined for this purpose as a condition under which a specific stimulus input or target (e.g., alcohol, cigarettes) is the primary determinant of behavior (e.g., demand). The overall goal of the present study was to evaluate the stimulus selectivity of drug purchase tasks. Participants were sampled from the Amazon.com’s crowdsourcing platform Mechanical Turk. Participants completed either alcohol and soda purchase tasks (Experiment 1; N = 139) or cigarette and chocolate purchase tasks (Experiment 2; N = 46), and demand metrics were compared to self-reported use behaviors. Demand metrics for alcohol and soda were closely associated with commodity-similar (e.g., alcohol demand and weekly alcohol use) but not commodity-different (e.g., alcohol demand and weekly soda use) variables. A similar pattern was observed for cigarette and chocolate demand, but selectivity was not as consistent as for alcohol and soda. Collectively, we observed robust selectivity for alcohol and soda purchase tasks and modest selectivity for cigarette and chocolate purchase tasks. These preliminary outcomes suggest that demand metrics adequately reflect the specific commodity under study and support the continued use of purchase tasks in substance use research
Using Appellate Decisions to Evaluate the Impact of Judicial Elections
Using Appellate Decisions to Evaluate the Impact of Judicial Elections. By Gregory DeAngelo & Bryan McCannon
West Virginia University Working Paper, June 2017, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2973369
Abstract: We investigate judicial election's impact on criminal case handling. Data from appeals of felony convictions in New York state are used to measure the accuracy of lower court outcomes. We also account for judicial election pressures and career paths. A theoretical model is developed where to guide the empirical analysis judges face a trade-off between exerting time and effort in criminal and civil cases. We show that during a re-election campaign, when the importance of good decision making in both types of cases is heightened, if the civil case outcomes are sufficiently more important, then error rates in criminal cases can increase. This effect is reversed for those who have a greater intrinsic interest in criminal justice. Results from the empirical analysis conform to the hypotheses derived from the theoretical model. Convictions that occur during the judge's re-election campaign are less likely to be upheld if appealed. The effect is concentrated in those who did not previously work in a prosecutor's office. In fact, judges who are former prosecutors experience higher affirmation rates with an additional escalation in success when up for re-election. We also differentiate judges who handle more civil cases and show that re-election distortions are greater. Finally, we also consider those who receive greater campaign support from special interest groups. Those who receive financial support have reduced accuracy. These additional results are consistent with the theory that it is the trade-off between criminal and civil cases that is driving decision making. Our results suggest that the criminal justice system is impacted by the interaction between a judge's characteristics and re-election incentives.
West Virginia University Working Paper, June 2017, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2973369
Abstract: We investigate judicial election's impact on criminal case handling. Data from appeals of felony convictions in New York state are used to measure the accuracy of lower court outcomes. We also account for judicial election pressures and career paths. A theoretical model is developed where to guide the empirical analysis judges face a trade-off between exerting time and effort in criminal and civil cases. We show that during a re-election campaign, when the importance of good decision making in both types of cases is heightened, if the civil case outcomes are sufficiently more important, then error rates in criminal cases can increase. This effect is reversed for those who have a greater intrinsic interest in criminal justice. Results from the empirical analysis conform to the hypotheses derived from the theoretical model. Convictions that occur during the judge's re-election campaign are less likely to be upheld if appealed. The effect is concentrated in those who did not previously work in a prosecutor's office. In fact, judges who are former prosecutors experience higher affirmation rates with an additional escalation in success when up for re-election. We also differentiate judges who handle more civil cases and show that re-election distortions are greater. Finally, we also consider those who receive greater campaign support from special interest groups. Those who receive financial support have reduced accuracy. These additional results are consistent with the theory that it is the trade-off between criminal and civil cases that is driving decision making. Our results suggest that the criminal justice system is impacted by the interaction between a judge's characteristics and re-election incentives.
Effects of alcohol, initial gambling outcomes, impulsivity, and gambling cognitions on gambling behavior using a video poker task
Effects of alcohol, initial gambling outcomes, impulsivity, and gambling cognitions on gambling behavior using a video poker task. By Corbin, William R.; Cronce, Jessica M.
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol 25(3), Jun 2017, 175-185. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pha0000125
Abstract: Drinking and gambling frequently co-occur, and concurrent gambling and drinking may lead to greater negative consequences than either behavior alone. Building on prior research on the effects of alcohol, initial gambling outcomes, impulsivity, and gambling cognitions on gambling behaviors using a chance-based (nonstrategic) slot-machine task, the current study explored the impact of these factors on a skill-based (strategic) video poker task. We anticipated larger average bets and greater gambling persistence under alcohol relative to placebo, and expected alcohol effects to be moderated by initial gambling outcomes, impulsivity, and gambling cognitions. Participants (N = 162; 25.9% female) were randomly assigned to alcohol (target BrAC = .08g%) or placebo and were given $10 to wager on a simulated video poker task, which was programmed to produce 1 of 3 initial outcomes (win, breakeven, or lose) before beginning a progressive loss schedule. Despite evidence for validity of the video poker task and alcohol administration paradigm, primary hypotheses were not supported. Individuals who received alcohol placed smaller wagers than participants in the placebo condition, though this effect was not statistically significant, and the direction of effects was reversed in at-risk gamblers (n = 41). These findings contradict prior research and suggest that alcohol effects on gambling behavior may differ by gambling type (nonstrategic vs. strategic games). Interventions that suggest alcohol is universally disinhibiting may be at odds with young adults’ lived experience and thus be less effective than those that recognize the greater complexity of alcohol effects.
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol 25(3), Jun 2017, 175-185. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pha0000125
Abstract: Drinking and gambling frequently co-occur, and concurrent gambling and drinking may lead to greater negative consequences than either behavior alone. Building on prior research on the effects of alcohol, initial gambling outcomes, impulsivity, and gambling cognitions on gambling behaviors using a chance-based (nonstrategic) slot-machine task, the current study explored the impact of these factors on a skill-based (strategic) video poker task. We anticipated larger average bets and greater gambling persistence under alcohol relative to placebo, and expected alcohol effects to be moderated by initial gambling outcomes, impulsivity, and gambling cognitions. Participants (N = 162; 25.9% female) were randomly assigned to alcohol (target BrAC = .08g%) or placebo and were given $10 to wager on a simulated video poker task, which was programmed to produce 1 of 3 initial outcomes (win, breakeven, or lose) before beginning a progressive loss schedule. Despite evidence for validity of the video poker task and alcohol administration paradigm, primary hypotheses were not supported. Individuals who received alcohol placed smaller wagers than participants in the placebo condition, though this effect was not statistically significant, and the direction of effects was reversed in at-risk gamblers (n = 41). These findings contradict prior research and suggest that alcohol effects on gambling behavior may differ by gambling type (nonstrategic vs. strategic games). Interventions that suggest alcohol is universally disinhibiting may be at odds with young adults’ lived experience and thus be less effective than those that recognize the greater complexity of alcohol effects.
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