Low autonomic arousal (low resting heart rate) is a risk factor for reoffending

Oskarsson S, Kuja-Halkola R, Latvala A, Andersson A, Garcia-Argibay M, Bertoldi BM, et al. (2021) Low autonomic arousal as a risk factor for reoffending: A population-based study. PLoS ONE 16(8): e0256250. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256250

Abstract

Background  Low resting heart rate (RHR) and low systolic blood pressure (SBP) are associated with criminal behavior. However, knowledge is lacking about their predictive value for reoffending.

Aim  We aimed to examine associations of RHR and SBP with reoffending in a large population-based sample.

Methods  We conducted a cohort study of all convicted male conscripts born in Sweden 1958–1990 (N = 407,533). We obtained data by linking Swedish population-based registers. Predictor variables were RHR and SBP, measured at conscription which was mandatory until 2010 for men at age 18. The outcome variable was reoffending, defined as criminal convictions (any crime, violent crime and non-violent crime), obtained from the National Crime Register. We used survival analyses to test for associations of RHR and SBP with reoffending, adjusting for pertinent covariates such as socioeconomic status, height, weight and physical energy capacity.

Results  In fully adjusted Cox regression models, men with lower RHR (≤60 bpm) had higher risk of reoffending (any crime: HR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.14, 1.19, violent crime: HR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.17, 1.29, non-violent crime: HR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.14, 1.19), compared to men with higher RHR (≥ 82 bpm). Men with lower SBP (≤80 mmHg) had higher risk of reoffending (any crime: HR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.17, 1.21, violent crime: HR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.20, non-violent crime: HR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.18, 1.22), compared to men with higher SBP (≥138 mmHg).

Conclusions  Low autonomic arousal is associated with increased risk of reoffending. RHR and SBP should be investigated further as potential predictors for reoffending as they each may have predictive value in risk assessment protocols.

Discussion

In a sample of 407,533 convicted male conscripts in Sweden born between 1958 and 1990, we found that lower RHR and lower SBP at age 18 were associated with an increased risk of reoffending. These results replicate findings from previous work conducted on risk factors for criminal behavior [5, 9], and extend these findings in important ways. Specifically, our findings replicate prior work demonstrating that individual differences in autonomic arousal, measured as RHR and SBP, are associated with criminal behavior [5, 9]. However, earlier work has not considered the prior criminal histories of study participants. Our study focused on men with a history of criminal convictions and showed that these indicators of autonomic arousal predicted subsequent reoffending. This finding is important because it provides evidence that variations in autonomic arousal are associated not only with the likelihood of offending [5, 9], but also with the persistence and repetitiveness of offending.

Our findings suggest that low RHR and low SBP should be further investigated and considered as potential predictors to be included in risk assessment protocols. All estimates in the present study remained statistically significant, with some in fact strengthened, after adjusting for pertinent covariates, indicating that RHR and SBP contribute uniquely to prediction of reoffending. Individuals with low RHR who engage in criminal behavior may not benefit from traditional treatment programs to the extent they are, according to theoretical accounts based on low fear [4] and stimulation-seeking propensities [4, 16], less able to learn from their experiences. In particular, low fear of punishment may reduce the effectiveness of conditioning. As evidence for this, youth with disruptive behavior disorders have been found to profit less from behavioral treatment if they also exhibit low RHR [30]. From this perspective, individuals who engage in criminal behavior who also have low RHR may require tailored interventions targeting their under-aroused autonomic nervous system to prevent them from reoffending. Low RHR and low SBP may have limited importance in themselves as predictors of reoffending, but together with more established predictors (e.g., history of criminal behavior, employment, psychiatric disorder) [2], they could add importantly to the identification of individuals at high risk for reoffending who could be prioritized for intervention programs. We encourage future research aimed at incorporating autonomic arousal measures into models for predicting reoffending.

It is well-known that criminal behavior runs in families [23], and that measures of autonomic arousal are heritable [31]. In addition, findings from recent research provide evidence that the association between low RHR and criminal behavior is substantially attributable to genetic influences [9]. This evidence suggests that autonomic arousal as indexed by low RHR and SBP levels may be one of the biological factors underlying transmission of criminal behavior from one generation to the next [8]. Taken together, our findings provide further impetus for considering autonomic arousal variations in etiologic models of reoffending.

The results from the present study are novel, as only one previous small-scale study has tested for an association between low RHR and reoffending [10]. In contrast to our results, this study did not find an association between low RHR and reoffending, potentially due to lack of statistical power. However, this study did find that weak heart rate reactivity and an elevated heart rate variability within a stressor task predicted a higher likelihood of reoffending during follow up. The current study is therefore the first to demonstrate an increased risk of reoffending in a large-scale population-based sample of men with prior conviction histories. Our finding of an increased risk for reoffending among previously convicted men with low SBP is also novel, as no study has examined this association before. Future research should replicate these findings in different settings and populations.

The findings of the present study should be considered in the light of some limitations. RHR and SBP were measured concurrently using an arm-cuff monitor, after subjects had rested for 5 to 10 minutes [21]. This procedure differs from the conventional laboratory method of measuring cardiac activity from skin-surface electrodes attached to the limbs or torso, which may yield cleaner data [32]. However, use of an arm-cuff is the most prevalent method for obtaining these measures clinically, and is standard practice in clinical settings in Sweden [21]. Further, no other information pertaining to the collection of RHR and SBP data was available in the Swedish Military Conscription Register. Therefore, factors such as time of recording and room temperature that may influence cardiovascular measurements could not be controlled for. It also warrants mention that valid RHR data were missing for 43% of the overall registry sample. However, sensitivity analysis including only men with valid RHR and SBP data yielded comparable estimates. This is in line with a prior study examining low RHR in relation to criminal behavior, which showed that excluding the portion of the sample who lacked RHR data did not affect the observed associations [5].

A further limitation is that our study included only men, so it remains to be seen whether our findings generalize to women. Although previous research has shown that low autonomic arousal is associated with criminal behavior for both men and women [7], we cannot draw the same conclusion with respect to reoffending. It is also important to bear in mind that our study focused on men with official convictions only, who may not be representative of all men who have engaged in criminal acts within Sweden.

In conclusion, our findings demonstrate evidence for associations for two distinct indices of autonomic arousal, RHR and SBP, with risk of reoffending, even after adjusting for possible extraneous confounds. These findings indicate that low RHR and low SBP should be further examined as predictors of reoffending, as they may help to improve identification of individuals at risk for repeated criminal justice involvement. Further evidence for the predictive value of autonomic arousal measures would support their inclusion in risk assessment protocols, as a basis for targeting case management and intervention efforts.

Today’s young adults are ascribed a mixed stereotype content, subject to harsher social judgments than both older age groups & recollections of former generations at the same age, & victim of discriminatory behaviors

Francioli, S. P., & North, M. S. (2021). Youngism: The content, causes, and consequences of prejudices toward younger adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Aug 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001064

Abstract: Research on ageism has focused largely on perceptions of and biases targeting older adults, implicitly assuming that age-based stigma increases throughout the life span and that young adults benefit from favorable views relative to their older counterparts. In a series of eight studies (N = 2,323), we provide evidence to the contrary. We theorize that, in sharp contrast with ageism toward older adults, which revolves around fear and discomfort with the target’s later life stage, youngism (i.e., ageism toward young adults) is primarily generationally focused, aiming at contemporaneous generations of young adults rather than young adults in general. Consistent with this theorizing, we find that today’s young adults are ascribed a mixed stereotype content (Study 1a–1c), subject to harsher social judgments than both older age groups (Study 2) and recollections of former generations at the same age (Study 3a and 3b), and victim of discriminatory behaviors (Study 4 and 5). By comprehensively documenting cognitive, emotional, and behavioral evidence of youngism, the present work challenges the idea that ageism only reflects a plight of later-life aging. Instead, we show not only that ageism can target other age groups but also that the nature and content of ageism vary across the life span.

Is Voting Transformative? Found no impact on voters' political knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors

Is Voting Transformative? Expanding and Meta-Analyzing the Evidence. John B. Holbein, Marcos A. Rangel, Raeal Moore & Michelle Croft. Political Behavior, Aug 20 2021. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-021-09746-2

Abstract: Voting is the foundational act of democracy. While thousands of studies have treated voting as a dependent variable, comparatively little research has studied voting as an independent variable. Here we flip the causal arrow and explore the effect of exogenous voting shocks on citizens’ broader attitudes and behaviors. To do so, we first use two waves from a uniquely large survey of young people in the United States, pairing this with a regression discontinuity design. We augment these results with a new meta-analysis of all causally-identified studies exploring whether voting is transformative. We find that—despite voting at much higher rates—individuals induced to vote, regardless of the mode used to mobilize, are (precisely) no different from all-else-equal individuals that are not. Our results illuminate the (non)consequences of a vitally important—and widely studied—political behavior and speak to the broader importance of voting as an object of study.

Sexual arousal evokes sexual disinhibition (increased self-reported likelihood to engage in uncommon, risky, and coercive sexual activities); among disinhibition indicators: "Can you imagine having sex with a 50-year-old woman/man?"

Sexual Disinhibition Under Sexual Arousal: Evidence for Domain Specificity in Men and Women. Roland Imhoff & Alexander F. Schmidt. Archives of Sexual Behavior volume 43, pages1123–1136, Aug 5 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-014-0329-8

Abstract: Men have been shown to estimate their likelihood of engaging in sexually coercive behaviors and also uncommon and unprotected sexual behaviors as higher when they are in an acute state of sexual arousal. The present research sought to test (1) whether sexual arousal effects could be replicated under more controlled laboratory settings, (2) whether women showed the same pattern of results, and (3) whether this effect was specific to sexual disinhibition or would generalize to non-sexual disinhibited behavior. In two experimental studies, male and female participants (Study 1: N = 84; Study 2: N = 86) were either sexually aroused by acoustically presented erotic narratives or listened to sexually non-arousing neutral narratives. Afterwards, they self-estimated their likelihood of engaging in a variety of behaviors that could be characterized as sexual or non-sexual disinhibited behavior. Results replicated the previously established effect of sexual disinhibition under sexual arousal for men and provided the first evidence for a similar effect in women. No arousal effects were observed for non-sexual behavior, rendering alternative explanations based on mere indifferent responding unlikely. The discussion focused on a plausible explanation for this effect.

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It is important to note here that we propose the term disinhibition as a characterization of the commonality of the three domains: Engaging in uncommon, morally questionable, and unsafe sexual behavior. Importantly, disinhibition here refers to the outcome of reporting greater likelihood of engaging in this behavior (i.e., an outcome that is less constrained by social norms and expectations of what might constitute socially desirable responses), not to the process. In terms of underlying processes, such an outcome may results from either reduced inhibitory processes or stronger approach motivation (see Toates, 2009; for a dual control model of inhibition and excitation, see also Bancroft & Janssen, 2000). Although Ariely and Loewenstein seemed to favor the latter explanation of an increase in the appetitive sexual system, we argue that alternative explanations are conceivable.

What narrative strategies durably reduce prejudice? Omitting analogic perspective-taking and vicarious perspective-giving does not diminish effects; conversations employing only perspective-getting narratives work

Kalla, Joshua, and David Broockman. 2020. “Which Narrative Strategies Durably Reduce Prejudice? Evidence from Field and Survey Experiments Supporting the Efficacy of Perspective-getting.” OSF Preprints. December 28. doi:10.31219/osf.io/z2awt

Abstract: Exclusionary attitudes contribute to social and political challenges worldwide. Previous field experiments have found that interpersonal conversations which employ multiple theoretically-informed narrative strategies can durably reduce exclusionary attitudes. However, studies of these interventions have always assigned three narrative strategies together in a compound treatment: narratives which promote analogic perspective-taking, vicarious perspective-giving, and perspective-getting. This leaves open important theoretical and empirical questions about to what extent each is effective. We present results from two field experiments, a difference-in-differences analysis, and a survey experiment that individually manipulate their presence. Across the field experiments, we find that omitting analogic perspective-taking and vicarious perspective-giving does not diminish effects; conversations employing only perspective-getting narratives durably reduce exclusionary attitudes. We also present results from within-subject analyses and survey experiments that show that perspective-getting consistently reduces exclusionary attitudes and activates multiple mechanisms, whereas the other approaches have less reliable effects. These results support a focus on facilitating perspective-getting in interpersonal conversations that aim to durably reduce exclusionary attitudes.

Psychopathy & personality disorder were not found to be associated with membership in the mafia for either gender; seems more of a mentality characterized by beliefs & practices determined by a deviant culture rather than psychopathology

Women and men of mafia between traditional cultural contexts and new social roles. Felice Carabellese, Alan R. Felthous, Harry G. Kennedy, Domenico Montalbò, Donatell La Tegola, Anna Coluccia, Fabio Ferretti, Fulvio Carabellese, Roberto Catanesi. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, August 19 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2533

Abstract: The Italian mafia organizations represent a subculture with values, beliefs, and goals that are antithetical to and undermining of the predominant society. The conduct of individual members includes such extreme violence for material gain, it may at least superficially suggest a severe personality disorder. Since the first edition of the DSM and into the 21st century, various terms have been used, sometimes interchangeably, but over time inconsistently, to designate the mentality and practices of mafia members. Only recently has the psychology of mafia members become a focus of serious scientific study. For the first time, investigators for the present study applied instruments, including the PCL-R, to examine for character psychopathology and specifically degrees of psychopathy in male and female mafia members, 20 female and 21 male members. Results showed some gender difference with the women having a higher score on Factor 1, in contrast to men who showed a lower score. Psychopathy and personality disorder were not found to be associated with membership in the mafia for either gender. Some psychopathic traits and gender differences warrant further research. Meanwhile these findings are consistent with a mentality characterized by beliefs and practices determined by a deviant culture rather than psychopathology.

Does testosterone affect men’s willingness to compete, confidence, and risk-taking—dimensions of economic behavior that are theoretically linked to the Challenge Hypothesis? Effects are small and inconsistent

Nave, Gideon, Amos Nadler, Colin Camerer, and Matthias Wibral. 2021. “Does Testosterone Administration Increase Competitiveness, Confidence and Financial Risk-taking in Men?.” PsyArXiv. August 20. doi:10.31234/osf.io/62af7

Abstract: The sex steroid hormone testosterone regulates male-typical behaviors such as aggression and displays of dominance in non-human animals. According to the Challenge Hypothesis, these effects arise from context-sensitive testosterone increases that facilitate inter-male competitions over resources, status, and mates. A growing literature documents similar effects of testosterone on economic behaviors related to competition and risk-taking in humans, though findings to date have been mixed. Here, we report two randomized double-blind placebo-controlled testosterone administration experiments, whose combined sample (N = 334) is substantially larger than any previous investigation of the topic (N1 = 91, N2 = 243). The studies were designed independently by research groups in Europe and the US, and both investigated testosterone’s effects on men’s willingness to compete, confidence, and risk-taking—dimensions of economic behavior that are theoretically linked to the Challenge Hypothesis, show robust sex differences, and predict important real-life outcomes such as career choice. We find no evidence for effects of testosterone on any of the behavioral tasks studied across the two experiments, with effect point estimates that are small and inconsistent. The studies had 90% statistical power to detect effects that are larger than d = 0.68 and d = 0.42 respectively, and equivalence tests confidently reject effects that are greater than these magnitudes. Our findings cast doubt on the proposition that testosterone is a meaningful causal driver of the stereotypically “masculine” dimensions of economic behavior studied, and suggest that even if true effects existed, detecting them experimentally would be challenging.

Does testosterone affect men’s willingness to compete, confidence, and risk-taking—dimensions of economic behavior that are theoretically linked to the Challenge Hypothesis? Small and inconsistent effects

Following the 2020 presidential race, many pundits and academics were quick to claim that the pandemic might have altered the outcome of the election; these authors disagree

Did exposure to COVID-19 affect vote choice in the 2020 presidential election? Marco Mendoza Aviña, Semra Sevi. Research & Politics, August 18, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680211041505

Abstract: An important body of literature shows that citizens evaluate elected officials based on their past performance. In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, the conventional wisdom in both media and academic discourse was that Donald Trump would have been a two-term president absent an unprecedented, global force majeure. In this research note, we address a simple question: did exposure to COVID-19 impact vote choice in the 2020 presidential election? Using data from the Cooperative Election Study, we find that Trump’s vote share decreased because of COVID-19. However, there is no evidence suggesting that Joe Biden loses the election when no voter reports exposure to coronavirus cases and deaths. These negligible effects are found at both the national and state levels, and are robust to an exhaustive set of confounders across model specifications.

Keywords: 2020 US presidential election, COVID-19, Biden, Trump, vote choice

Conclusion

Following the 2020 presidential race, many pundits and academics were quick to claim that the pandemic might have altered the outcome of the election. While limited to a single instance of COVID-19’s electoral impact (i.e. self-reported exposure to the virus), our findings do not support the claim that the pandemic cost Trump his re-election. There is no doubt that COVID-19 negatively affected Trump’s electoral performance; yet our counterfactual analysis shows that the presidential two-party vote is virtually unchanged when no voter contracts the disease.⁸ The null finding for those who were personally diagnosed is consistent with previous analyses having found that support for Trump increased in some of the areas that were hardest hit by COVID-19 (McMinn and Stein, 2020). Our results are also consistent with the fact that Trump’s approval ratings were remarkably stable throughout his presidency (FiveThirtyEight, 2021). In early 2020, fewer than 45% of American adults approved of Trump’s job as president. This percentage fluctuated somewhat over the year but remained in the mid-forties until January 2021. This suggests, as our results do, that the extraordinary circumstances that arose during that election year did little to change the electorate’s crystalized – and overall unfavorable – views of the 45th president.

Different names for “natural gas” influence public perception of it: They associate natural gas with “clean” and methane gas with “pollution.”

Different names for “natural gas” influence public perception of it. Karine Lacroix et al. Journal of Environmental Psychology, August 18 2021, 101671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101671

Highlights

•  Americans have strong positive feelings for the term “natural gas.”.

•  Americans have negative views of the alternative terms “methane” and “methane gas.”.

•  They associate natural gas with “clean” and methane gas with “pollution.”.

•  The alternative terms “fossil gas” and “fracked gas” are politically polarized.

Abstract: In many countries, natural gas is perceived more favorably than other fossil fuels. Here, we experimentally test (N = 2931) how perceptions of natural gas vary depending on what it is called. We find that Americans have stronger positive feelings for the term “natural gas” than “natural methane gas” (d = 0.59), “fossil gas” (d = 0.80), “fracked gas” (d = 0.81), “methane” (d = 0.94), and “methane gas” (d = 0.96). Democrats and Republicans both reported more positive views of “natural gas” than “natural methane gas” or “methane [gas].” But the patterns for the two political parties differed for perceptions of “fossil gas” and “fracked gas,” which were both viewed relatively positively by Republicans but negatively by Democrats. Analyses of open-ended word associations found that many participants associated methane with words like “pollution” and “global warming,” whereas they associated natural gas with words like “clean.” The results suggest that the terms used for this fossil fuel have very different meanings among the public, which may affect people's risk perceptions, consumer choices, and support for related policies.

Keywords: Risk perceptionAffectImageryNatural gasMethaneClimate change

Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked

Too Good to be Liked? When and How Prosocial Others are Disliked. Lucia L.-A. Boileau, David J. Grüning and Herbert Bless. Front. Psychol., August 19 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.701689

Abstract: Outstandingly prosocial individuals may not always be valued and admired, but sometimes depreciated and rejected. While prior research has mainly focused on devaluation of highly competent or successful individuals, comparable research in the domain of prosociality is scarce. The present research suggests two mechanisms why devaluation of extreme prosocial individuals may occur: they may (a) constitute very high comparison standards for observers, and may (b) be perceived as communal narcissists. Two experiments test these assumptions. We confronted participants with an extreme prosocial or an ordinary control target and manipulated comparative aspects of the situation (salient vs. non-salient comparison, Experiment 1), and narcissistic aspects of the target (showing off vs. being modest, Experiment 2). Consistent with our assumptions, the extreme prosocial target was liked less than the control target, and even more so when the comparison situation was salient (Experiment 1), and when the target showed off with her good deeds (Experiment 2). Implications that prosociality does not always breed more liking are discussed.

General Discussion

The present research demonstrates that individuals who perform an outstanding degree of prosocial behaviors may be devaluated—due to their prosocial behaviors. Specifically, across two experiments, the prosocial target was liked less than the control target. This consistent pattern is unlikely to be due to participants' perception that the displayed behaviors did not unambiguously reflect prosocial behavior: When explicitly evaluating prosociality, the prosocial target was clearly perceived as prosocial (and more so than the control target). The finding that prosocial behaviors may decrease rather than increase liking seems rather surprising at first glance. Past research suggests that liking and perceptions of prosociality in others are in fact very highly correlated (Imhoff and Koch, 2017). However, the observed devaluation is in line with prior empirical research suggesting that superior prosocial others are indeed sometimes devaluated through rejection and dislike (Fisher et al., 1982; Herrmann et al., 2008; Parks and Stone, 2010; Pleasant and Barclay, 2018).

The present research goes beyond prior research that has similarly demonstrated a possible disliking of prosocial targets by suggesting and investigating two possible underlying processes. Thus, it responds to the call that mediating mechanisms for the dislike of very prosocial targets are yet to be investigated (Parks et al., 2013).

First, the reduced liking of the prosocial target was more pronounced when comparisons between the target and the observers were induced by the information that observers would first evaluate the target and then themselves on the very same items. Eliciting such a comparison expectation increased disliking of the prosocial target. Presumably, in this situation, the extremely prosocial target constituted a very high comparison standard, and this high standard would have negative consequences for participants' evaluations of themselves (Mussweiler, 2003; Bless and Schwarz, 2010; Morina, 2021). This conclusion extends indirect evidence by Parks and Stone (2010) by providing an experimental manipulation of the assumed comparison component.

Second, as predicted, the dislike of the prosocial target was increased when perceptions of communal narcissism (Gebauer et al., 2012; Nehrlich et al., 2019) were elicited by informing participants that the target actively sought to let others know about her prosocial behaviors. This finding suggests that a target's prosocial behavior will not turn into more liking but backfire when that target is perceived as someone who exerts “excessive self-enhancement” in the domain of prosociality and who is showing off with her good deeds (Rentzsch and Gebauer, 2019; p. 1373).

Interestingly, the two proposed accounts (comparison processes, and communal narcissism) may in fact be related. The perception that an individual competes for higher status on the communal dimension (Gebauer et al., 2012) might elicit social comparison processes just as a situation in which comparison is made salient. Communal narcissists do show-off because they want to outperform others—which inevitably entails a comparison. In case the comparison is not only given on the side of the prosocial target but also on the side of the perceiver, one might speculate that we manipulated comparative aspects of the situation in Experiment 1 and comparative aspects of the target in Experiment 2. Such speculation may explain why assessed communal narcissism in Experiment 1 was strongly related to disliking the prosocial target. In turn, eliciting social comparison via the situation might increase perceptions of communal narcissism as a form of target devaluation (cf. Monin, 2007). Note, however, that we did not find a significant interaction effect of target type and comparison salience on perceptions of communal narcissism in Experiment 1.

In combination, the present research provides first evidence on two potential mechanisms to explain the devaluation of very prosocial others. The findings thus provide a first, yet important step, for investigating the processes that lead to the devaluation of prosocial targets.

Open Issues and Caveats

Although the present research offers new insights into the potential devaluation of prosocial others, it is important to address several open issues and caveats. First, one may speculate about the degree of prosocial behavior that is necessary to elicit a dislike of the target (in combination with the comparison component). Of course, prosocial behavior does not necessarily lead to disliking. In this respect, it is important to point out that our target was very outstanding with respect to prosocial behavior. Thus, to elicit devaluation, the target might have to be perceived as “too good” or “too perfect” (note that self-devaluation tends to be elicited when the outstanding other is perceived as unreachable; Lockwood and Kunda, 1997). Evidence in this respect has been reported for the ability domain demonstrating that a superior target was liked more than an average person—if the superior target displayed some imperfections in other domains (Aronson et al., 1966). Further research is needed to address this issue systematically in the prosocial domain.

Second, our conclusion on the crucial role of comparison processes for the dislike of outstanding prosocial targets matches with research on the devaluation of targets that outperform others in the domain of performance and abilities (Pleban and Tesser, 1981; Salovey and Rodin, 1984; Alicke et al., 1997; Alicke, 2000; Lassiter and Munhall, 2001). The present findings thus suggest that similar processes may cause devaluation of both oustandingly capable, and outstandingly prosocial individuals (for a discussion of different, yet overlapping conceptualizations of ability vs. prosociality, see, e.g., Fiske et al., 2007; Gebauer et al., 2014; Abele et al., 2016). Similarly, these processes may also cause devaluation of outstandingly moral individuals (e.g., Monin et al., 2008; Minson and Monin, 2012). Importantly, despite some overlaps, prosociality and morality are not the same. Morality comprises being loyal, fair, law-abiding, and pure (Graham et al., 2013)—aspects that are at least partly independent of prosociality. However, given the similar patterns of dislike observed for superior targets in these various domains, it seems worthwhile to investigate communalities and differences between prosociality and morality in their underlying mechanisms.

Third, we did not find complementary patterns for perceived communal narcissism vs. perceived modesty in Experiment 2. The obtained findings do not allow for an answer to this issue. With respect to the concept of narcissism it might be interesting to investigate whether narcissism and modesty are located on different sides of the same dimension or whether the two concepts are at least partly unrelated to each other (for a discussion of the humility and grandiose narcissism dimension, see Miller et al., 2012; Gebauer and Sedikides, 2019). This relation might also depend on whether narcissism and modesty are measured via self-reports or other-reports. Interestingly, while self-rated communal narcissism has been conceptualized and investigated (Gebauer et al., 2012; Nehrlich et al., 2019), the perception of communal narcissism in others has so far received little systematic investigation (Rentzsch and Gebauer, 2019).

Fourth, the crucial interaction of target type and communal narcissism (i.e., show-off vs. modest condition) in Experiment 2 did not reach the conventional level of significance when tested two-sided. We readily acknowledge this aspect. Note, however, that we pre-registered our study so that one-sided tests statistics could potentially be applied. Due to the unexpected drop out (due to the attention check, see above) the conducted analyses were presumably underpowered, which constitutes a common problem in the field of psychological research (Maxwell, 2004).

Fifth, the reduced liking of the outstandingly prosocial target reflects a contrast effect. General models on context effects in social judgment (cf. Bless and Schwarz, 2010) hold that—under specified conditions—contrast effects may turn in assimilation effects. We readily subscribe to this possibility. One condition that might apply to the present research could rest in the perceived similarity between target and perceiver. In case perceivers assume a high overlap between themselves and the target, they may derive positive implications for themselves rather than devaluating the target (e.g., basking in the reflected glory, Cialdini and DeNicholas, 1989; see also Brown et al., 1992; for an overview on assimilation vs. contrast effects, see Bless and Schwarz, 2010).

Sixth, our sample predominantly consisted of females. As our target was female as well, this might have influenced our results (e.g., see Espinosa and Kovárík, 2015), for gender differences in prosocial behavior). To address this issue, further research needs to test potential gender differences in the evaluation of outstandingly prosocial others.

Finally, it needs to be pointed out that we minimized the potential ambiguity of the prosocial behavior. One could speculate that other devaluation mechanisms (i.e., denying prosociality, ascribing lower competence, etc.) might be at work when the prosocial behavior is more ambiguous and more open to interpretations.

Outlook

While readily acknowledging the open issues addressed above, we strongly believe that the present research addresses important issues. We consistently demonstrated that performing prosocial behaviors may lead to reduced liking. Moreover, we showed that the reduced liking of prosocial individuals is triggered by both comparison processes and perceptions of communal narcissism. The present set of studies therefore show, to our knowledge, the first direct evidence on underlying mechanisms in the devaluation of very prosocial others and provide a basis for future research.

Leaving the laboratory situation, the obtained findings suggest that performing prosocial behaviors is no guarantee to be liked. In fact, in some instances, individuals may be disliked because of their prosocial behaviors. This observation is in line with the ambiguously connoted term “do-gooder,” which on the one hand describes the target's “desire and effort to help people” but on the other hand, points out to potential evaluations of the target's behavior as “wrong,” or “annoying” (see Merriam-Webster, n.d.). We assume that the ambivalence of the term “do-gooder” is rather widespread. If so, research needs to pay more attention to the devaluation of prosocial others, as it might constitute a potential obstacle to individuals' motivation for prosocial behavior.

The warm glow of recycling can make us more wasteful; such potential ‘wasteful contribution’ effects need to be considered in assessing the benefits of certain recycling initiatives

The warm glow of recycling can make us more wasteful. Jenny van Doorn, Tim Kurz. Journal of Environmental Psychology, August 19 2021, 101672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101672

Highlights

• Initiatives that involve recycling waste into something useful are gaining popularity.

• These initiatives potentially increase waste rather than preventing it.

• People may frame their waste as a contribution to the collective good that elicits a warm glow.

Abstract: Laudable initiatives designed to limit the environmental damage associated with consumption, such as the recycling of plastic packaging into clothing or unused bread into beer, have become increasingly popular. In three experiments, we show how such initiatives can potentially increase waste rather than preventing it. Specifically, we show that when presented with such options people may come to psychologically frame their waste creation as a contribution to the collective good that makes them feel good about themselves (i.e. eliciting a warm-glow effect). We argue that such potential ‘wasteful contribution’ effects need to be considered in assessing the true sustainability benefits of certain recycling initiatives.

Keywords: RecyclingWarm glowWasteWaste hierarchyFoodPlastic

Women were substantially more likely to wear painful, restricting or distracting clothing than men, clothing that requires ongoing monitoring or adjusting

These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking: Gendered Discrepancies in Wearing Painful, Restricting, or Distracting Clothing. Renee Engeln & Anne Zola. Sex Roles, Aug 19 2021. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-021-01230-9

Abstract: Using the framework of objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts in Psychology of Women Quarterly 21(2): 173–206, 1997), the current studies explored how often women (vs. men) reported wearing clothing that is painful, distracting, and/or restricting (PDR clothing). Additionally, we examined differences in body surveillance (i.e., chronically monitoring the appearance of one’s body) and body appreciation between those who reported wearing various types of PDR clothing and those who did not. In both a sample of U.S. college students (n = 545) and a broader sample of U.S. adults (n = 252), results indicated that women were substantially more likely to wear PDR clothing than men. Across both samples, the largest differences between men and women were in wearing uncomfortable or painful shoes and in wearing clothing that is distracting because it requires ongoing monitoring or adjusting. Women and men with higher body surveillance were more likely to report wearing PDR clothing. Though some findings pointed toward a negative association between body appreciation and wearing PDR clothing, these results were inconsistent. Overall, results were consistent with the notion that the gendered nature of clothing might reflect and provoke chronic vigilance of the body’s appearance. Gendered differences in the extent to which clothing promotes comfort and movement vs. discomfort and distraction has clear implications for women’s quality of life.

Discussion

Once again, we found that women were substantially more likely to wear PDR clothing than men. Wearing PDR clothing was linked to greater body surveillance among both women and men. In general, there was no pattern to suggest that body appreciation differed significantly between those who do and do not wear PDR clothing.

Coding of themes in the open-ended responses to the question about why participants wore PDR clothing suggested two areas of gender discrepancy. Consistent with evidence that women score higher than men on measures of the salience of appearance in their lives (Cash et al., 2004), and with arguments that women face more rigid appearance ideals than men (Buote et al., 2011), women who wore PDR clothing were more likely than men who wore PDR clothing to indicate that they did so in order to appear more attractive. On the other hand, men were more likely than women to indicate that when they wore PDR clothing, they did so because it was a workplace requirement (e.g., wearing a tie or suit jacket). This finding was somewhat surprising given the attention in both popular media and legal settings to sexist workplace apparel requirements (e.g., requiring women to wear heels or skimpy uniforms; Aamodt, 2017). It is possible that for some men, PDR clothing in the workplace (e.g., wearing a tie or blazer) can be a means of projecting power and financial success, both of which are tied to masculinity pressures (Berdahl et al., 2018). However, a more parsimonious explanation for this pattern (and one that is consistent with objectification theory), is that for women, the pressure to “look good” extends across all settings. In other words, if one’s reason for wearing PDR clothing is to look attractive to others, that reason might supersede any specific reference to work or particular social settings. Unfortunately, the brief responses to this exploratory, open-ended question did not provide us with enough detail to more fully examine these possibilities.

General Discussion

Across two studies, we demonstrated that women are significantly more likely than men to wear clothing that is painful, distracts, or restricts movement. Additionally, results revealed that overall, men and women who wear PDR clothing engage in more body surveillance than men and women who do not wear this type of clothing. Finally, we found that when they wear PDR clothing, women are more likely to indicate that their reason for doing so is to look attractive to others, whereas men were more likely to indicate that they do so out of a workplace obligation. This descriptive, exploratory research is the first we are aware of that directly examines how often men vs. women wear PDR clothing.

These results may appear obvious to many readers. One would need only a passing familiarity with women’s fashions to ascertain that they regularly show little regard for comfort or function. As just one example, consider widespread popular media coverage of the claim that the lack of pockets in women’s clothing is an issue of gender equality (Basu, 2014), and that designers leave useful pockets off women’s clothing primarily because pockets are viewed as unflattering to the lower body. Despite how easy it may be to casually observe the gender difference in wearing PDR clothing, documenting this pattern is a necessary first step in building an understanding of how often individuals wear PDR clothing, the psychological (or practical) factors involved in decisions to wear such clothing, and the psychological outcomes that follow.

Certainly, men’s clothing can fall under the umbrella of painful, distracting, or restricting as well. For example, neckties are a common source of fashion-related discomfort for men. However, as workplaces become more casual, fewer men are required to wear ties on a regular basis. A 2007 Gallup poll found that two in three men never wear a tie to work and only nine percent wear a tie most days (Carroll, 2007). Rates are likely substantially lower today.

Though men in the current studies were less likely than women to wear PDR clothing, men and women who wore PDR clothing tended to have greater body surveillance than those who did not wear such clothing. The link between body surveillance and wearing PDR clothing could be conceptualized as moving in two directions. Some types of PDR clothing literally require body surveillance (e.g., clothing that must be adjusted/monitored in order to avoid showing more of your body than you mean to). For example, if a woman wears a low-cut blouse but does not wish to expose her breasts, that blouse will cause her to monitor her body in order to determine how much of it is visible to other people. Other types of PDR clothing may be more of a reflection of ongoing body surveillance. For example, women may wear “shapewear” in part because they are sensitive to how the shape of their body appears to others. Of course, these effects could also act in a feedback loop, where trait levels of body surveillance prompt a person to choose PDR clothing, and the PDR clothing itself then draws more of that person’s attention to the appearance of their body.

The chronic appearance monitoring assessed by the measure of body surveillance used in these studies is strongly linked to self-objectification (Calogero, 2012). Self-objectification has negative psychological outcomes for men as well as women (e.g., Hebl et al., 2004; Martins et al., 2007), suggesting that the potential psychological toll of body surveillance is relevant regardless of gender. However, because women report wearing PDR clothing substantially more frequently than men do, PDR clothing can be conceptualized as a factor that may partially explain the gender gap in rates of self-objectification (with women consistently reporting higher levels; Frederick et al., 2007).

Because one component of body appreciation is a focus on and appreciation for the functions of one’s body (Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015), and because many types of PDR clothing can limit some of the body’s functions (e.g., comfortable movement, taking deep breaths), we anticipated that wearing PDR clothing would be negatively associated with body appreciation. However, we found inconsistent support for this prediction. This may be because appreciation for the body’s functionality is only one of several components of body appreciation. Other components (e.g., body acceptance and rejecting unhealthy or rigid appearance ideals; (Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015) may be less relevant to decisions around PDR clothing. An alternative explanation for the inconsistency of results regarding the link between PDR clothing and body appreciation is the complicating factor of choice. Regardless of whether you freely choose to wear PDR clothing or are required to do so (by a workplace, for example), body surveillance is a logical outcome of PDR clothing if it draws your attention to how you look. On the other hand, one can imagine a person with high levels of body appreciation who wears PDR clothing out of obligation. In this case, there is no reason to suspect that wearing PDR clothing would necessarily lower one’s body appreciation.

The pattern of gender differences across these two studies with respect to how often men vs. women wear PDR clothing was clear: women wear such clothing more often. However, some categories of PDR clothing showed larger and more consistent gender differences. Across both studies, some of the largest differences between men and women were in wearing shoes that cause pain/blisters and wearing shoes that limit the time one can comfortably stand. The findings regarding shoes may speak to gender differences in taking a functional perspective on one’s body (Alleva & Tylka, 2021). When it comes to facilitating movement, shoes are arguably the single most important article of clothing. Shoes affect how quickly and confidently one can walk and how long one can stand without breaks. Though men’s shoes vary to some extent in terms of how comfortable they are (e.g., dress shoes vs. running shoes), only in women’s fashion do we see the dominance of a type of shoe (the high heel) that clearly impedes movement (Jeffreys, 2015). Previous research has found that women report wearing high heels in order to look sexy (Smolak et al., 2014), suggesting that shoes may be a key area where women negotiate trade-offs between comfort and appearance pressures. Consistent with this argument, across both studies, those who reported wearing shoes that cause pain/blisters or limited the time they could comfortably stand scored significantly higher on body surveillance.

A second area of notable gender differences was in wearing clothing that requires adjusting or monitoring throughout the day: women were much more likely to indicate that they wore this type of clothing. This finding is consistent with Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) argument that certain women’s fashions require women to be “chronically vigilant” of their bodies (p. 182). Monitoring your clothing provides ample opportunity to bring your attention back to your appearance. Interestingly, this type of PDR clothing was the only one to show a significant link with body appreciation across both studies. Men and women who indicated they wore clothing that requires this type of ongoing monitoring reported lower body appreciation.

One of several questions the current research leaves unanswered is the extent to which women freely choose to wear PDR clothing. This is a complicated question to tackle. In a culture in which women are taught that their primary form of social currency is their appearance (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), the behaviors women engage in in order to appear attractive or sexy are at best viewed as constrained choices. Some women in Study 2 directly stated that they choose to endure fashion-related pain and discomfort because that is what it takes to look sexy. Even in settings where specific types of apparel are not explicitly required, social pressures to follow fashion trends can be fierce. A norm-enforced unofficial dress code (e.g., wearing tight, short dresses in order to gain entry to a trendy bar or wearing heels for an important work presentation) can still exert a substantial pull on behavior.

An important point of difference between men’s and women’s PDR clothing is that for women, PDR clothing is often revealing (e.g., tight, short, or low-cut clothing; Goodin et al., 2011), not just distracting or uncomfortable. In other words, much of women’s PDR clothing seems intended to draw the (potentially sexually objectifying) gaze of others, whereas men’s PDR clothing is often intended to signal competence or power (e.g., a suit coat and tie). Consistent with this trend, in the current studies, the only PDR clothing type men were more likely than women to report wearing at least once a week was clothing that makes one too hot or too covered for weather conditions (Study 1). This difference between revealing and non-revealing PDR clothing likely matters in terms of the subjective experience of wearing such clothing. A suit can hide perceived bodily flaws and make a person feel (and be perceived as) more powerful (Kraus & Mendes, 2014); highly revealing clothing can prompt body consciousness and make a person more likely to be perceived as a sexual object (Gray et al., 2011).

Limitations and Future Research Directions

The current studies were primarily exploratory and cannot provide conclusive evidence about the direction of the association between wearing PDR clothing and body surveillance. Additionally, the limited data about reasons why men and women wear PDR clothing suggests that a more thorough analysis on this topic is warranted. Some reasons for wearing PDR clothing (e.g., to look good) seem to indicate free (or at least, somewhat free) choice. Other responses suggest bowing to social norms or following explicit guidelines for different work/social settings. Many participants listed both types of reasons. Future work on this topic should include a more nuanced set of questions about when, why, and how often men and women wear PDR clothing. This is especially important given the relatively informal process by which the list of PDR clothing types used in these studies was generated. Future researchers could consider using these initial data to inform the development of a formal measure of behaviors and attitudes around PDR clothing. The general categories of PDR clothing examined in these studies could also be used as a starting point for a more detailed analysis of specific articles of clothing and their psychological effects. For example, researchers could examine what types of clothing participants are thinking of when they respond to questions about clothing that leaves welts or makes it difficult to breathe. Of particular interest would be any gender differences in the extent to which PDR categories are capturing rarely worn types of clothing (e.g., formalwear) vs. more everyday types of clothing (e.g., undergarments, shoes).

We recommend that future work examining reasons why individuals wear PDR clothing employ focus groups or semi-structured interviews in order to more carefully interrogate how people make decisions around PDR clothing. Though many participants in the current study indicated that they wore PDR clothing to be more attractive to others, we were not able to explore how (or to what extent) men and women understood these choices in terms of gender roles or gendered sociocultural appearance ideals. In addition to this type of qualitative work, researchers should consider using experimental methods to test the extent to which wearing PDR clothing might lead to trade-offs between momentary boosts in self-esteem (e.g., feeling sexy or confident while wearing heels) and disruptions in the ability to focus (e.g., when one’s attention is drawn to foot pain or the need to adjust one’s clothing).

The current studies are also limited by their reliance on participants’ memory and on participants’ rough estimates of how often they wear different types of apparel. Additionally, our online survey did not include attention checks (beyond evaluating the open-ended responses in Study 2). Observational or field studies could provide more detailed data on the types of PDR clothing men and women wear in their everyday lives and how PDR clothing choices vary by setting or context. Some researchers have argued that those whose bodies least resemble cultural body ideals (typically people in marginalized bodies) may feel the greatest pressure to engage in appearance surveillance (Frederick et al., 2007). Relatedly, others have pointed to appearance management behaviors as a means for women who are poor to attempt to improve their status or financial situation (Edmonds, 2007). Together, these findings suggest that the links between social status and choices around PDR clothing would be a rich area for future research.

The current studies were not designed in a way to allow for a rigorous examination of how age (or the interaction between age and gender) might be related to wearing PDR clothing. However, there are numerous reasons that this could be an interesting area for future work. There are theoretical and empirical reasons to predict that women may be less likely to wear PDR clothing as they age. For example, Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) argued that because older women tend to receive less sexualized attention from their culture, women may find themselves more able to “step out of the objectification limelight,” (p. 195) as they age. To the extent that they do so, they may feel less pressure to wear PDR clothing. This possibility would be consistent with evidence that older women report lower levels of self-objectification than young women (Tiggemann & Lynch, 2001).

On the other hand, (Tiggemann, 2004) argued that, unlike age-related body changes, appearance management behaviors like clothing choices remain largely under one’s control as one ages. For that reason, clothing choices designed to maximize attractiveness may become more important for women as they age. This perspective suggests that PDR clothing could be more common among older women.

Practice Implications

Therapists and other practitioners working with individuals who struggle with body image-related issues might consider clothing choices as a worthwhile topic to address. Previous research has suggested that a more functional approach to understanding one’s body can help reduce body image disturbance (Alleva et al., 2015). To the extent that more comfortable clothing choices allow one to focus more on how one’s body moves and how it feels, opting out of PDR clothing could be a healing choice for some (assuming they have the freedom and means to do so). This may be particularly true for women, both because women are more likely than men to wear PDR clothing and because women tend to engage in more body surveillance than men. Of course, practitioners should take care to avoid shaming people over any clothing choices, instead considering how one might select apparel that is both confidence-inducing and allows for comfortable freedom of movement and less distraction. Activists working in this space can continue to push fashion designers and clothing manufacturers to provide comfortable clothing that does not require monitoring and adjustment throughout the day – and insist that such options be available to all genders and all body shapes and sizes.