Creativity: Contrarianism

Contrarianism. Mark A Runco, Director of Creativity Research & Programming, Southern Oregon University, Ashland. In Encyclopedia of Creativity 3rd ed. Prinzter, Runco eds. Elsevier 2020.

Introduction

Mickey Mouse was created by Walt Disney in the late 1920s. Mickey was a result of collaboration; Disney worked with his brother Roy and Ub Iwerks. Walt could no longer use his ‘star performer,’ Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, because his previous distributor held the rights. Disney needed a new star, and Mickey was conceived.

Why a mouse? As a matter of fact Walt wanted a cat. He discussed this with Roy and Ub, and they decided on a mouse. That decision was implicitly contrarian because Disney and his collaborators wanted to do what no one else was doing. The character Krazy Kat was already widely known and a second feline would be unoriginal. For that reason Walt and his collaborators decided on a mouse – to be different and unique.

Interestingly, the original suggestion was to call the new character ‘Mortimer,’ but Walt’s wife Lily decided that “Mickey” was more appropriate. The discussion between Walt and Lily, summarized inWalt Disney: An American Original (Thomas, 1994), can be described in terms of group dynamics and strategies, Walt being very contrarian, and Lily making sure that the new mouse would have a name which would sound right to the general public. “Mickey Mouse” has a nice ring to it; and like other creative names, labels, and titles, it is fitting in some aesthetic sense. This is true of all creative insights and ideas, not just names, labels, and titles. Creative work is original, but it is more than just original. It is original and fitting. Sometimes the latter is a matter of aesthetic fit. Originality and fit (or effectiveness) are the two requirements of the standard definition of creativity.

Rationale for Contrarianism

There is quite a bit of detail about contrarianism in the economic and investment theories of creativity (Rubenson, 1991; Rubenson & Runco, 1992, 1995; Runco, 1991; Sternberg & Lubart, 1991). The rationale for contrarianism is as follows: Originality is a critical aspect of creativity, and contrarianism has a high probability of leading to an original idea or behavior. It can be very practical because people can mindfully consider what others are doing and then do something different and original. If you just ask them to ‘be original,’ they may have some difficulty. There is often no clear-cut criterion with which they can actually judge their originality. But if you tell them to ‘do what others are not doing,’ they have something concrete to think about and to use in their efforts.

It is easy to be impressed by the contrarian tactic and see its value. There are several reasons. First, as just noted, it is operational and practical. It gives individuals something they can use when judging their ideas or behavior. Second, novel behaviors and actions are salient. For this reason the results of the contrarian effort are obvious. They often capture attention and may thus be rewarding.  Third, it is an easy tactic to explain to others. Teachers, for example, can easily describe this tactic to their charges. A number of empirical projects have demonstrated how easily original thinking can be enhanced with contrarianism and other simple tactics.  Many biographies, autobiographies, and case studies mention contrarianism and tie it to creativity. The next section reviews example cases. The pros and cons of the contrarian tactics will then be discussed, as will limitations of case studies. As is true of all cases, they are merely illustrations, not evidence.

Individuals Who Have Used Contrarian Strategies

Many famous creative persons have used a contrarian tactic, in addition to Walt Disney. Gandhi was a contrarian, especially in his methods of passive resistance. These were fitting and original, given his beliefs and objectives. He found a way to both resist (which is in itself contrarian, at least vis-à-vis the British) and yet remain a passivist. Gandhi’s passive resistance is paradoxical, being both resistance and passive, but this is true of many creative things. Passive resistance was paradoxical, contrarian, creative, and effective.  James Watson, who shared the Nobel Prize for his work on the structure of DNA, was contrarian as well. He collaborated with Francis Crick, and their competition with Linus Pauling was fierce (Watson, 1968). Sometimes competition requires contrarianism in that you do not want others to do what you are doing – or at least not until you have finished or established yourself.  In the medical research field Henry Heimlich (who developed the Heimlich maneuver) was long known as a maverick and nonconformist. Most recently he proposed curing patients with AIDS by giving them malaria. The Los Angeles Times claimed that “this is not the first time the 74-year-old Heimlich’s headstrong approach to medicine has shocked, even outraged the Establishment.” Heimlich was quoted as saying, “I don’t do ordinary things. I don’t follow all the rules if there’s a better, faster way to do it” (Oct. 30, 1994: A30).

The Los Angeles Times also published an article, “Renegades Reinvent the Bicycle.” Apparently the mountain bike – a modification of what Britannica called “the most efficient means yet devised to convert human energy into propulsion” – “came out of nowhere, a product of counterculture – invented by hippies, no less, a ragtag of pot-smokers and Haight–Ashbury drifters who barely got through high school.” Note the term counterculture. This is one way of describing a group of contrarians.

A final example from the Los Angeles Times is Rock ‘n’ Roll. In a 1998 Times book review rock is called “a disagreement with established power – a refutation of authority’s influence” (4/15/98, p. E6). Not that rock ‘n’ roll is the only rebellious kind of music. Duke Ellington was, for instance, quite the contrarian. Arnold Ludwig, author of The Price of Greatness, explained how “Knowingly or not, Ellington exploited traditional musical rules as inspiration for his jazz. If he learned that he was not supposed to use parallel fifths, he immediately would find a way to do so; if told that major sevenths must always rise, he would write a tune in which the line descended from the major seventh; and if the tritone was forbidden, he would find the earliest opportunity to use it and, to emphasize the point, would let it stand alone and exposed” (pp. 7–8).

The comment, “knowingly or not” is critical because by definition tactics and strategies are intentional. Unintentional contrarianism may best be viewed as oppositional thinking, which Ludwig (1995) defined as “the almost automatic tendency to adopt a contrary or opposite response” (pp. 7–8). Both contrarianism and oppositional thinking focus on what others are not doing, but the former is intentional, and thus tied to discretion, while the latter is unintentional and thus less likely to benefit creativity.  Discretion will be discussed further below. But first several other examples of contrarianism should be mentioned.  Ludwig also described the work of Sigmund Freud. Certainly Freud’s work was original, and yet it fit with his observations and with certain lines of medical theory. Freud was oppositional, and perhaps contrarian, in his efforts to do original work and in his nonconformity.

In the arts, Picasso described cubism as follows: “We were trying to move in a direction opposite to Impressionism.” This is pure contrarianism, especially in its direction – namely, opposite to Impressionism. It is not just a reaction to others, and not just different, but opposite. In her chapter in the Creativity Research Handbook Stephanie Dudek argued that the Dadaists and Surrealists were “particularly determined to burn all bridges behind them.” In this light, contrarianism breaks with tradition. That implies that avant-garde is inherently contrarian. As Dudek put it, avant-garde is “by definition art that is ahead of its time, that is shocking, disturbing, and therefore viewed as socially objectionable. Its specific aim is to undermine the existing order and to replace it with another. It attempts to do this by contradiction, challenge, confrontation, and self-assertion.”

Turning from the visual arts, consider next Bruce Lee. He developed an original system of martial arts – Jeet Kune Do – but had to fight the established, traditional schools because they did not want to teach any such techniques outside of Asia. Bruce broke with tradition.

Howard Gruber described how the famed developmental psychologist Jean Piaget used several specific strategies. First, Piaget always thought with a pencil in his hand. This is a simple but useful tactic, given how fleeting creative insights can be. Second, Piaget read outside his own field. Third, he did not read inside his own field. And last, he always had a target or “whipping boy.” The last of these implies working independently, imagining one’s critics, which is a kind of contrarianism. B. F. Skinner also suggested that scientists read outside their own field. This too is a kind of contrarianism, or at least increases the likelihood of it. Avoiding one’s own field is even more contrarian.

Dr Seuss, prolific author of children’s literature, broke rules on every page of every book. He made up his own words, used many an ungrammatical sentence, and defied the laws of physics in the actions of his characters. Gertrude Stein and e. e. cummings also come to mind; they too broke certain literary traditions.  Although instructive, these cases – Disney, Gandhi, Heimlich, Ellington, Freud, Picasso, Piaget, Skinner, Seuss, Stein, and Cummings – are famous creators. Generalizations from them are therefore questionable. As noted above, case studies are always only examples, not evidence.

Contrarianism in the Service of Creativity

Two distinctions will help to determine when contrarianism is in fact associated with creativity. First is the distinction between contrarianism and oppositional thinking. The former is intentional and the latter an unintentional tendency toward nonconformity and unconventionality. Similarly critical is the distinction between contrarianism that is intentionally used for the sake of creativity, and that which is used merely to insure originality and salience. Contrarianism does not guarantee creativity; it can have other outcomes or be directed to other objectives, including originality. But originality does not insure creativity; it is necessary but not sufficient. It follows that contrarianism for the sake of originality may lead only to deviance and not to creativity.  Salience is a possibility because contrarianism does lead to originality – the contrarian is different and unique – but it may just attract attention without actually introducing a truly creative idea or act. Original behaviors and actions are salient and thus do grab our attention. Creativity, on the other hand, probably is much more likely when the intention is creativity rather than mere salience or popularity. This is contrarianism in the service of creativity. When that is the intention, there is likely to be some fit, appropriateness, or effectiveness, as well as originality. Recall here that creativity requires both originality and effectiveness. Contrarianism only contributes to the former and can inhibit the latter.

Even contrarianism in the service of creativity has potential problems. First is what I once called misplaced investments (Runco, 1995). This occurs when the creator uses a contrarian tactic, but does so to the extent that he or she is investing time into being different and therefore not investing time and energy into the topic or problem itself. The investment is misplaced because time invested into being different is often time away from good focused work. This is especially problematic because quite a bit of research suggests that persistence and immersion is often a requirement for creative insights and breakthroughs.  A second potential problem is that contrarianism can lead the individual to break rules that should not be broken. It may be that the creator is reinforced for contrarianism because it leads to creative insights, but then fails to exercise discretion and applies the same tactic in areas where some conventionality should be respected. The proposals from Feldman, Gardner, and Csikszentmihalyi in 1999 and Gruber in 1993, that moral and humanitarian values should be clearly encouraged along with creativity, are relevant here. If contrarianism leads the individual to break the important rules that keep society running smoothly, we have an example of what Robert McLaren called the Dark Side of Creativity. Examples of this were given by Russell Eisenman and Richard Brower in the Special Issue of the Creativity Research Journal which was devoted to Creativity and Deviance. Brower provided long lists of eminent creators who spent time in jail. A more recent branch of this research used the term malevolent creativity. Even more recent empirical work by Jack Goncalo demonstrated how very simple decisions (e.g., about diet) that involve a disregard for rules have clear implications for when individuals have opportunities to act creatively.

Creativity as Postconventional Contrarianism

One useful way to think of contrarianism is as postconventional creativity. The term postconventional originated in developmental theories. It is a mature stage of development and follows the preconventional and conventional stages of development. A child in the first of these stages is unaware of rules, norms, and conventions, and in fact does not recognize the value of rules. His or her games are ever-changing; there are no stable rules to keep the child moving toward an objective. Moral judgments at this age are based on rewards and punishers rather than a sense of right and wrong. The child is, however, often quite creative in art and expression.  Ask a group of preschoolers to draw pretty trees and you will get trees with pink, purple, and polka-dotted rather than green leaves. Preschool children pick their colors based on preference rather than convention. They are highly self-expressive, and that can be a very good thing for creative behavior.

Individuals in the conventional stage are well aware of rules – and in fact hold to very literal interpretations of them. They see the value of conventions. Conventional behavior allows them to fit in with one’s peer group, for instance, but sometimes the conventional individual puts too much effort into doing just that. The result is a tendency away from anything unconventional and original, which means that creativity is not possible. Conventional individuals respond to peer pressure and hate bending rules. This explains the fourth-grade slump in creativity, when many children become noticeably less original in their ideation. Conventionality also leads them to a literal use of language, and it certainly is apparent in their playing games (completely by the rules rather than improvising as needed) and in their art. Children in this stage are likely to only draw trees that have green leaves. Not a polka dot in sight.

The third stage is postconventional. Here the individual is aware of rules, norms, and conventions, but make decisions for him- or herself rather than blindly conforming. Conventions are taken into account, but so is the immediate context. If asked to draw “what trees look like,” leaves may very well be green, but if asked to draw a beautiful tree, the leaves may include rainbow colors or whatever color is the individual’s favorite. This same capacity to recognize conventions but think for one’s self is exactly what was meant earlier by exercising discretion. With discretion, contrarianism will be used appropriately, in the service of creativity. Without discretion, contrarianism is blind and constant, probably oppositional rather than adaptive and effective. Contrarianism must be mindful to capture the originality and effectiveness that are both required for creativity.

References

Goncalo, J., 2019, August. Presentation at the Festschrift for Teresa Amabile. Harvard Business School, Cambridge, MA.

Ludwig, A., 1995. The Price of Greatness. Guilford Press, New York.

Rubenson, D.L., 1991. On creativity, economics, and baseball. Creativ. Res. J. 4, 205–209.

Rubenson, D.L., Runco, M.A., 1992. The psychoeconomic approach to creativity. New Ideas Psychol. 10, 131–147.

Rubenson, D.L., Runco, M.A., 1995. The psychoeconomic view of creative work in groups and organizations. Creativ. Innov. Manag. 4, 232–241.

Runco, M.A., 1991. On economic theories of creativity (Comment). Creativ. Res. J. 4, 198–200.

Runco, M.A., 1995. Insight for creativity, expression for impact. Creativ. Res. J. 8, 377–390.

Sternberg, R.J., Lubart, T., 1991. Short selling investment theories of creativity? A reply to Runco. Creativ. Res. J. 4, 200–202.

Thomas, B., 1994. Walt Disney: An American Original Disney.

Watson, J.D., 1968. The Double Helix. New American Library, New York.

 

Does Godwin’s law (rule of Nazi analogies) apply in observable reality? An empirical study of selected words in 199 million Reddit posts

Does Godwin’s law (rule of Nazi analogies) apply in observable reality? An empirical study of selected words in 199 million Reddit posts. Gabriele Fariello, Dariusz Jemielniak, Adam Sulkowski. New Media & Society, December 7, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211062070

Abstract: As Godwin’s Law states, “as a discussion on the Internet grows longer, the likelihood of a person being compared to Hitler, or another Nazi reference, increases.” However, even though the theoretical probability of an infinitely long conversation including any term should approach 1.0, in practice, conversations cannot be infinite in length, and this long-accepted axiom is impossible to observe. By analyzing 199 million Reddit posts, we note that, after a certain point, the probability of observing the terms “Nazi” or “Hitler” actually decreases significantly with conversation length. In addition, a corollary of Godwin’s Law holds that “the invocation of Godwin’s Law is usually done by an individual that is losing the argument,” and, thus, that comparisons to Nazis are a signal of a discussion’s end. In other words, comparing one’s interlocutor to Hitler is supposed to be a conversation-killer. While it is difficult to determine whether a discussion on a given topic ended or not in a large dataset, we observe a marked increase in conversation length when the words “Hitler” or “Nazi” are newly interjected. Given that both of these observations challenge widely accepted and intuitive truisms, other words were run through the same set of tests. Within the context of the initial question, these results suggest that it is not inevitable that conversations eventually disintegrate into reductio ad Hitlerum, and that such comparisons are not conversation-killers. The results moreover suggest that we may underestimate, in the popular imagination, how much conversations may actually become narrower and therefore may tend to have a more impoverished or limited vocabulary as they stretch on. All of these observations provoke questions for further research.

Keywords: Computational linguistics, digital culture, online conversations, Reddit

National Narcissism predicts the Belief in and the Dissemination of Conspiracy Theories During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From 56 Countries

National Narcissism predicts the Belief in and the Dissemination of Conspiracy Theories During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From 56 Countries. Anni Sternisko et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, December 7, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211054947

Abstract: Conspiracy theories related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have propagated around the globe, leading the World Health Organization to declare the spread of misinformation an “Infodemic.” We tested the hypothesis that national narcissism—a belief in the greatness of one’s nation that requires external recognition—is associated with the spread of conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic. In two large-scale national surveys (NTotal = 950) conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom, and secondary analysis of data from 56 countries (N = 50,757), we found a robust, positive relationship between national narcissism and proneness to believe and disseminate conspiracy theories related to COVID-19. Furthermore, belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories was related to less engagement in health behaviors and less support for public-health policies to combat COVID-19. Our findings illustrate the importance of social identity factors in the spread of conspiracy theories and provide insights into the psychological processes underlying the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19, conspiracy theories, collective narcissism, social identity, public health

General Discussion

In three studies, with data from 51,707 participants from 56 countries, we examined the relationships between national narcissism, COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and health behaviors and policy attitudes. Across culturally diverse samples, we found that greater national narcissism was associated with stronger belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories (Studies 1–3). In the United States and the United Kingdom, national narcissism was also positively related to intentions to disseminate COVID-19 conspiracy theories (Studies 1 and 2). This relationship was mediated by greater belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories (Studies 1 and 2). These relationships were very robust¹² and persisted when we adjusted for a series of relevant covariates. National narcissism might be an important risk factor for the spread of conspiracy theories during the pandemic.

We found correlational evidence suggesting that belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories may have serious consequences for the global containment of the pandemic. Across 56 countries, belief in COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs were related to less adherence to public health guidelines (i.e., physical hygiene, physical distancing; Study 3) and less support for public health policies (Studies 2 and 3). These effects were generally small which may partly be due to restricted variance. People reported high engagement in health behavior and policy support but low belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Given the globality and contagiousness of the virus, however, even subtle negligence can be detrimental. We also found that COVID-19 conspiracy theory beliefs mediated a negative relationship between national narcissism and engagement in health behaviors (Study 3) and policy support (Studies 2 and 3).

Theoretical Contributions and Implications

Our study expands previous work on conspiracy theories and public health by examining the role of social identity processes. We found that national narcissism—a defensive belief in the greatness of one’s nation that requires external recognition—was positively related to the readiness to believe and disseminate COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Critically, neither general ingroup positivity (Studies 1–3) nor individual narcissism (Study 3) could fully account for our findings. It was the defensive love for the nation—captured in national narcissism—that seemed to be crucial.

Furthermore, the relationship between national narcissism and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories persisted when adjusting for participants’ belief in conspiracy theories unrelated to COVID-19 (Study 1), suggesting that national narcissists are not drawn to simply any kind of conspiracy theories (see Bertin et al., 2021; Cichocka, Marchlewska, & Golec de Zavala, 2016). In fact, national narcissism was unrelated to belief in conspiracy theories about topics like politics (e.g., 9/11 inside job) and other public health issues (e.g., HIV, vaccines; see Supplement Table 9.1). This suggests that at the time of data collection COVID-19 conspiracy theories corresponded to a specific social identity need (Enders & Uscinski, 2021; Sternisko et al., 2020, Uscinski et al., 2020), presumably the desire to deny or deflect national shortcomings exposed by the pandemic.

Even though belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and national narcissism were associated with reflexive open-mindedness (Study 1) and low reflection (Study 3), the association between national narcissism and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories remained significant when we adjusted for these factors, as well as factual knowledge about COVID-19 (Study 2). These findings highlight that conspiracy theory beliefs among national narcissists are not simply a product of limited cognitive effort and gullibility (Van Bavel & Pereira, 2018; Zmigrod et al., 2018). Certain strategies to reduce the spread of misinformation like accuracy nudges (Pennycook et al., 2020) and media education (Basol et al., 2020) may therefore prove less effective for national narcissists.

Furthermore, we found that the relationship between national narcissism and conspiracy theory beliefs occurs outside the context of intergroup conflict. We found that national narcissists latched onto conspiracy theories specifically related to COVID-19, regardless of who is the alleged conspirator. This suggests that conspiracy theories are a generalized maladaptive ingroup defense strategy among national narcissists (Cislak et al., 2021; Marchlewska et al., 2019).

Little research has examined the psychological risk factors for the spread of conspiracy theories. We found that national narcissism may be a risk factor for the dissemination of conspiracy theories (Hughes & Machan, 2021). At first, our findings may seem obvious: people with stronger conspiracy theory beliefs—people high in national narcissism—should also be more likely to disseminate them. However, the formation and dissemination of people’s public beliefs are much more complex (León-Medina et al., 2020). For instance, people anticipate negative judgment and social exclusion for publicly supporting conspiracy theories (Lantian et al., 2018). In such situations, private and public opinions often become misaligned (León-Medina et al., 2020). Our findings hint at an interesting psychological phenomenon worth future investigation: National narcissists may be more willing than others to imperil their personal image in the interest of defending their ingroup’s image.

Exploratory analyses found evidence that national narcissists’ stronger belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories is linked to less engagement in health behaviors and less support for policies mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic. However, looking at the total and direct effects of national narcissism a more complicated picture emerged. In Study 2, national narcissism was negatively related to policy support after adjusting for national identification. However, national narcissism was positively albeit weakly, related to policy support and physical hygiene and was not related to physical distancing in Study 3 (Van Bavel, Cichocka et al., 2020). When we accounted for conspiracy theories in our mediation models, the direct relationships remained positive, yet weak. These findings suggest that while national narcissism might be associated with lower willingness to adhere to pandemic related guidelines via conspiracy beliefs, other psychological processes might be operating in parallel motivating national narcissists to support policies and regulations to the extent they view them as beneficial to maintaining the positive ingroup image (Cislak et al., 2021; Gronfeldt et al., 2021). More research is needed to unpack these relationships.

Limitations and Future Directions

We found that the relationship between national narcissism and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories was relatively robust across contexts. Nevertheless, some countries deviated from general trends, suggesting that our findings are not universally true. Furthermore, participants from Africa and the Middle East were still underrepresented in our studies. In addition, we only measured dissemination intentions in Studies 1 and 2, both of which were conducted in Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic (W.E.I.R.D) countries. This limits the generalizability of the corresponding findings. We encourage research to replicate our findings with these populations and also explore potential moderators (see Supplement Tables S1.7, S1.8, S2.7, S2.8, S3.4 on gender and ethnicity). We also highlight that all measures relied on self-report and slightly varied across studies. Despite these variations in measurements, our results were consistent across studies which lends further confidence in our conclusions. Last, we note that beliefs in conspiracy theories were quite low. As such, our work is best understood as examining the underlying motives of those who depart from a norm of skepticism towards conspiracy theories.

Since national narcissism is relatively stable over time (Cichocka et al., 2018), we suspect that national narcissism motivates the belief in and dissemination of COVID-19 conspiracy theories, which translates into adverse health behaviors and attitudes rather than the reverse. However, our data is cross-sectional. More work is needed to justify this interpretation. If future research finds evidence that national narcissism increases people’s proneness to believe and disseminate COVID-19 conspiracy theories, practical implications are worthwhile exploring. For instance, underscoring that the national in-group is disadvantaged in fighting the pandemic might heighten the need to assert the image of the group and further fuel conspiracy theories (Marchlewska et al., 2018). Conversely, public health messages might benefit from stressing that the adherence to health guidelines such as getting the COVID-19 vaccine helps protect the nation’s image.

Gender Roles in the Millennium: Who Pays and Is Expected to Pay for Romantic Dates?

Gender Roles in the Millennium: Who Pays and Is Expected to Pay for Romantic Dates? Hao Wu et al. Psychological Reports, December 7, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941211057144

Abstract: Research on monetary decisions and behaviors in dating relationships is very limited. The purpose of this study was to examine college students’ current practice and expectations for date payment for first and subsequent romantic dates in the framework of gender role theory. A sample of 552 heterosexual college students took an online survey that included questions about their actual and expected payment for their first and subsequent dates. Participants also completed several measures regarding their gender roles. The findings indicated that traditional gender norms in dating continue to be popular in the new millennium because in actual practice, men almost always paid the whole bill of the first dates and paid more for subsequent dates. When asked who should pay for the dates, participants also expected men to pay more for first and subsequent dates. Women did show some willingness to share date expenses, although nowhere close to be completely even. The findings also indicated that gender role attitudes played little role in actual practice but had a stronger role in date payment expectations, showing that individuals subscribing to traditional gender inequality views tended to believe that men should pay more for dates.

Keywords: Sex, gender role, gender norm, gender attitudes, date payment

The nature of privilege: intergenerational wealth in animal societies

The nature of privilege: intergenerational wealth in animal societies. Jennifer E Smith, B Natterson-Horowitz, Michael E Alfaro. Behavioral Ecology, arab137, December 7 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arab137

Abstract: Wealth inequality is widespread across human societies, from pastoral and small-scale agricultural groups to large modern social structures. The intergenerational transfer of wealth privileges some individuals over others through the transmission of resources external to an individual organism. Privileged access to household wealth (e.g., land, shelter, silver) positively influences the destinies of some (and their descendants) over others in human societies. Strikingly parallel phenomena exist in animal societies. Inheritance of nongenetic commodities (e.g., a nest, territory, tool) external to an individual also contributes greatly to direct fitness in animals. Here, we illustrate the evolutionary diversity of privilege and its disparity-generating effects on the evolutionary trajectories of lineages across the Tree of Life. We propose that integration of approaches used to study these patterns in humans may offer new insights into a core principle from behavioral ecology—differential access to inherited resources—and help to establish a broad, comparative framework for studying inequality in animals.

Intergenerational transfer of material wealth within family lineages

Intergenerational transfer of material wealth can drive inequality within family lineages of animals. In North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), a mother may store spruce cones on her territory and privilege her daughter by bequeathing a rich territory to her; daughters who receive these resources survive longer and reproduce earlier than those without (Smith 1968). Male food hoarders can also influence the lifetime fitness of subsequent owners of middens and these effects persist across multiple owners (Fisher et al. 2019). Because these food hoards outlive their owners, these indirect effects alter the environments that others experience. Thus, when some offspring receive a cone stash and others do not, this perpetuates inequality across generations privileging some individuals over others. Whereas many species, including the red squirrels described here, modify their local resource distributions (Laland et al. 1999; Olding-Smee 2012), studying the evolutionary dynamics associated with the intergenerational transfer of these constructed niches requires explicit study within a comparative framework.

The material transfer of (nongenetic) material wealth contributes to the extinction (vs. expansion) of family lineages and advantage individuals of the philopatric (vs. dispersing) sex across species. For spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), individuals from multiple maternal lineages join forces to defend a shared territory, but high-born philopatric females and their descendants have privileged access to resources within them (Holekamp et al. 2012) (Figure 2). Differential access promotes the extinction of nonprivileged family lineages but expands land ownership by privileged animals; these effects are further ameliorated by differential access to social support within groups (Smith, Van Horn, et al. 2010; Strauss and Holekamp 2019). In contrast, territory acquisition by a young male red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) is impacted by paternal presence (Watson et al. 1994) (Figure 2). Philopatric sons with nearby fathers gain larger and more defended territories than individuals whose fathers are no longer alive. Thus, the comparative study of wealth transfer across animals should therefore offer insights into the evolutionary dynamics of family groups and the consequences of sex-biased dispersal in animals.

The transgenerational use of activity sites can also contribute to the accumulation of stone tools within lineages. Taï Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) (Mercader et al. 2002) and bearded capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) (Elisabetta et al. 2013) inherit tools produced at nut-cracking sites via the paternal and maternal lines, respectively. Individuals that inherit are advantaged over others who do not in terms of their ability to gain access to key food resources; these beneficial effects are further compounded through the transfer of social information (e.g., traditions for how to use inherited materials) across generations. These examples shed light on the direct and indirect role of wealth transfer in shaping legacies of inequality along bloodlines over multiple time scales. These effects of intergenerational wealth mobility are likely stronger for some species than for others, as we discuss below, and therefore should be the subject of a quantitative study by behavioral ecologists to understand the breadth of their influence.

Intergenerational transfer of material wealth among non-kin

Intergenerational transfer of material wealth is not limited to genetic relatives within animal societies and can impose similar disparity-generating effects through preferential treatment by non-kin. For instance, privileged access to shelter (e.g., a nest) can transcend bloodlines in European paper wasps (Polistes dominula). Inheritance of built structures from kin or non-kin advantage wasps fortunate enough to receive them (Leadbeater et al. 2011). As a result, females who share nests with others are more likely to inherit structures and produce offspring than less privileged lone females. Within some termite societies structures may be inherited from kin, but inheritance can also occur when different lineages merge to share “real estate” (Thorne et al. 2003). The merging of families accelerates inheritance, increasing opportunities for resource acquisition for future generations, benefiting some termite lineages over others to further perpetuate the cycle of privilege. In some cases, disadvantaged individuals wait for privileged individuals to perish, as occurs, for example, in the clown anemonefish (Amphiprion percula) which lives in groups composed of non-relatives (Buston 2004). The non-breeding fish queue to inherit high-quality anemones from non-kin, but not all individuals inherit, and these effects can compound across multiple generations. Further inquiry into understanding selective processes shaping resource transfer among non-kin within a comparative perspective could offer new insights into the evolutionary origins of cooperation among non-relatives.

AI-powered mutual funds per se do not outperform the market, but significantly outperform their human-managed peers, show superior stock selection capability and can overcome some prevalent behavioral biases

Do AI-Powered Mutual Funds Perform Better? Rui Chen, Jinjuan Ren. Finance Research Letters, December 4 2021, 102616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2021.102616

Highlights

• AI-powered mutual funds per se do not outperform the market.

• AI-powered mutual funds significantly outperform their human-managed peers.

• AI-powered mutual funds show superior stock selection capability and lower turnover ratios to humans.

• AI-powered funds can overcome some prevalent behavioral biases.

Abstract: We evaluate the performance of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered mutual funds. We find that these funds do not outperform the market per se. However, a comparison shows that AI-powered funds significantly outperform their human-managed peer funds. We further show that the outperformance of AI funds is attributable to their lower transaction cost, superior stock-picking capability, and reduced behavioral biases.

Keywords: Artificial IntelligenceMutual fund performanceBehavioral biasesJEL classification: G11, G23, G41

Gifted & Talented Programs and Racial Segregation

Gifted & Talented Programs and Racial Segregation. Owen Thompson. NBER Working Paper 29546, December 2021. https://www.nber.org/papers/w29546

Abstract: Racial segregation can occur across educational programs or classrooms within a given school, and there has been particular concern that gifted & talented programs may reduce integration within schools. This paper evaluates the contribution of gifted & talented education to racial segregation using data on the presence and racial composition of gifted & talented programs at virtually all US elementary schools over a span of nine school years. I first show that, consistent with widespread perceptions, gifted & talented programs do disproportionately enroll white and Asian students while Black, Hispanic and Native American students are underrepresented. However, I also show that accounting for the within-school racial sorting caused by these programs has little or no effect on standard measures of overall racial segregation. This is primarily because gifted & talented programs are a small share of total enrollments and do enroll non-negligible numbers of under-represented minority students. I also estimate changes in race-specific enrollments after schools initiate or discontinue gifted & talented programs, and find no significant enrollment changes after programs are eliminated or initiated. I conclude that gifted & talented education is a quantitatively small contributor to racial segregation in US elementary schools.

Opposition to High Density Development: Across every demographic subgroup analyzed, respondents preferred single-family home developments by a wide margin

You Won't be My Neighbor: Opposition to High Density Development. Jessica Trounstine. Urban Affairs Review, December 6, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874211065776

Abstract: Virtually every city in the United States bans multifamily homes in at least some neighborhoods, and in many cities most residential land is restricted to single family homes. This is the case even though many metropolitan areas are facing skyrocketing housing costs and increased environmental degradation that could be alleviated by denser housing supply. Some scholars have argued that an unrepresentative set of vocal development opponents are the culprits behind this collective action failure. Yet, recent work suggests that opposition to density may be widespread. In this research note, I use a conjoint survey experiment to provide evidence that preferences for single-family development are ubiquitous. Across every demographic subgroup analyzed, respondents preferred single-family home developments by a wide margin. Relative to single family homes, apartments are viewed as decreasing property values, increasing crime rates, lowering school quality, increasing traffic, and decreasing desirability.

Keywords: land use, development, experiment, survey

Is Intellectual Humility Associated With Less Political Myside Bias?

Stepping Outside the Echo Chamber: Is Intellectual Humility Associated With Less Political Myside Bias? Shauna M. Bowes et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, March 10, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167221997619

Abstract: In recent years, an upsurge of polarization has been a salient feature of political discourse in America. A small but growing body of research has examined the potential relevance of intellectual humility (IH) to political polarization. In the present investigation, we extend this work to political myside bias, testing the hypothesis that IH is associated with less bias in two community samples (N1 = 498; N2 = 477). In line with our expectations, measures of IH were negatively correlated with political myside bias across paradigms, political topics, and samples. These relations were robust to controlling for humility. We also examined ideological asymmetries in the relations between IH and political myside bias, finding that IH–bias relations were statistically equivalent in members of the political left and right. Notwithstanding important limitations and caveats, these data establish IH as one of a small handful psychological features known to predict less political myside bias.

Keywords: intellectual humility, partisan bias, polarization, humility, myside bias

From 2018... To be funny or not to be funny: Gender differences in student perceptions of instructor humor in college science courses

From 2018... To be funny or not to be funny: Gender differences in student perceptions of instructor humor in college science courses. Katelyn M. Cooper et al. PLoS One, August 15, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201258

Abstract: For over 50 years instructor humor has been recognized as a way to positively impact student cognitive and affective learning. However, no study has explored humor exclusively in the context of college science courses, which have the reputation of being difficult and boring. The majority of studies that explore humor have assumed that students perceive instructor humor to be funny, yet students likely perceive some instructor humor as unfunny or offensive. Further, evidence suggests that women perceive certain subjects to be more offensive than men, yet we do not know what impact this may have on the experience of women in the classroom. To address these gaps in the literature, we surveyed students across 25 different college science courses about their perceptions of instructor humor in college science classes, which yielded 1637 student responses. Open-coding methods were used to analyze student responses to a question about why students appreciate humor. Multinomial regression was used to identify whether there are gender differences in the extent to which funny, unfunny, and offensive humor influenced student attention to course content, instructor relatability, and student sense of belonging. Logistic regression was used to examine gender differences in what subjects students find funny and offensive when joked about by college science instructors. Nearly 99% of students reported that they appreciate instructor humor and reported that it positively changes the classroom atmosphere, improves student experiences during class, and enhances the student-instructor relationship. We found that funny humor tends to increase student attention to course content, instructor relatability, and student sense of belonging. Conversely, offensive humor tends to decrease instructor relatability and student sense of belonging. Lastly, we identified subjects that males were more likely to find funny and females were more likely to find offensive if a college science instructor were to joke about them.

Since attractive alternatives threaten committed relationships, committed partners protect their relationships by devaluing such alternatives; but there are new technologies that increase access to attractive alternatives & there are more diverse relationships

The changing tides of attractive alternatives in romantic relationships: Recent societal changes compel new directions for future research. Ashlyn Brady, Levi R. Baker. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, December 4 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12650

Abstract: Societal changes over recent decades have drastically transformed the frequency and manner in which people are exposed to attractive alternative relationship partners, arguably resulting in such alternatives posing a greater threat to committed relationships now than ever before. Yet despite a growing need for novel research on attractive alternatives, research on this topic has failed to account for such changes and thus is growing stagnant. Specifically, although interdependence perspectives and supporting research have consistently and robustly demonstrated that (a) attractive alternatives threaten committed relationships and (b) committed partners protect their relationships by devaluing such alternatives, research has yet to examine how the changing nature of attractive alternatives might affect these processes. To this end, the present article first reviews foundational theory and research that guided the study of attractive alternatives and then highlights how recent societal changes (e.g., technology that increases access to attractive alternatives, increasingly diverse relationship types, the emerging desire to remain single) diverge from this research and thus warrant new directions. We encourage researchers to expand how they study attractive alternatives and to ultimately reignite research on this increasingly important topic.

Engaging in more extraverted behavior in everyday life made people feel better and a bit more authentic

Enacted Extraversion as a Well-Being Enhancing Strategy in Everyday Life: Testing Across Three, Week-Long Interventions. Zack M. van Allen; Deanna L. Walker; Tamir Streiner; John M. Zelenski. Collabra: Psychology (2021) 7 (1): 29931. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.29931

Abstract: Lab-based experiments and observational data have consistently shown that extraverted behavior is associated with elevated levels of positive affect. This association typically holds regardless of one’s dispositional level of trait extraversion, and individuals who enact extraverted behaviors in laboratory settings do not demonstrate costs associated with acting counter-dispositionally. Inspired by these findings, we sought to test the efficacy of week-long ‘enacted extraversion’ interventions. In three studies, participants engaged in fifteen minutes of assigned behaviors in their daily life for five consecutive days. Studies 1 and 2 compared the effect of adding more introverted or extraverted behavior (or a control task). Study 3 compared the effect of adding social extraverted behavior or non-social extraverted behavior (or a control task). We assessed positive affect and several indicators of well-being during pretest (day 1) and post-test (day 7), as well as ‘in-the-moment’ (days 2-6). Participants who engaged in extraverted behavior reported greater levels of positive affect ‘in-the-moment’ when compared to introverted and control behaviors. We did not observe strong evidence to suggest that this effect was more pronounced for dispositional extraverts. The current research explores the effects of extraverted behavior on other indicators of well-being and examines the effectiveness of acting extraverted (both socially and non-socially) as a well-being strategy.

Keywords:happiness, personality, positive affect, well-being, extraversion

General Discussion

This research further explores the robust link between extraversion and positive affect with a more novel focus on intentionally adding extraverted behaviors to daily life. Consistent with observational data, laboratory-based experiments, and real-world interventions, across three studies, we observed that engaging in extraverted behavior was associated with elevated levels of in-the-moment positive affect compared to introverted behavior and/or other control behaviors (Hypothesis 1). However, general, retrospective reports suggested that participants did not consistently experience increased positive affect from extraverted behavior during the week of the intervention, compared to the preceding week (Hypothesis 2). Further, we did not find clear support for the idea that dispositional extraverts might benefit more from engaging in more extraverted behavior compared to dispositional introverts (Hypothesis 3). These three studies suggest that average levels of momentary positive affect can be increased through the addition of extraverted behavior; however, these results do not support the idea that enacted extraversion interventions of 15-minutes daily behavior change are sufficient to produce lasting changes in well-being.

[Table 12. Correlations Between Trait Extraversion and Well-Being for Post-Test Assessment and Daily Reports]

One strength of our studies was the randomized controlled trial designs in Studies 2 and 3. Interestingly, the effect of extraverted behavior on positive affect in our studies varied depending on the control group. We observed the strongest effect of extraverted behavior when compared to enacted introversion (Studies 1 and 2) or journaling about daily happenings (Study 3). In contrast, when compared to an arguably more ‘active’ control, reflecting on one’s childhood (Study 2), the relative benefits of extraverted behavior were not clear. Taken together with conceptually similar experiments, increases in positive affect appear to be most consistent when compared to enacted introversion (present studies; Margolis & Lyubomirsky, 2020) or tasks which contain several elements of introverted behavior (i.e., a ‘sham’ condition which included instructions to act unassuming, sensitive, calm, modest, and quiet; Jacques-Hamilton et al., 2019). Said another way, some of the suggested benefits of extraverted behavior could be equally well-described as costs of introverted behavior.

When considered with the available observational (e.g., Fleeson et al., 2002; McNiel et al., 2010; McNiel & Fleeson, 2006) and experimental data collected both in laboratory (e.g., Zelenski et al., 2012; Zelenski, Whelan, et al., 2013) and naturalistic settings (e.g., Jacques-Hamilton et al., 2019; Margolis & Lyubomirsky, 2020), our results contribute to the confidence in a robust effect of state extraversion on positive affect. Although we did not find strong evidence that this effect varied as a function of trait extraversion (cf., Jacques-Hamilton et al., 2019), correlational evidence in the present studies did suggest that trait introverts perceived extraverted behavior to require more effort, and that trait extraversion was (inconsistently) related to feelings of authenticity when completing extraverted tasks. These interactions were generally non-significant in regression models, though even our larger studies may be underpowered to detect interactions reliably. To be clear, we did not design our studies to test null trait by condition interactions given the pattern of null interactions in the existing literature. Following planned analysis, we considered the application of equivalence tests (e.g., Lakens et al., 2018; Schuirmann, 1987) to determine if we could rule out interactions that were larger than trivially small (i.e., similar to concluding the null). Recently, the equivalence testing framework has been expanded to apply to interaction terms in multiple regression (Alter & Counsell, 2021). However, post-hoc applications of equivalence testing are problematic, and the size of our samples were not well suited to the use of equivalence testing for multiple regression (Alter & Counsell, 2021). Detecting significant interactions, and persuasively ruling them out, both require substantial power. Additionally, equivalence testing requires the identification of a SESOI (smallest effect size of interest) and after careful consideration we were unable to arrive at a reasonable SESOI based on available research given the scarcity of similar studies employing multiple regression and difficulty of translating ‘just noticeable differences’ to interactions including a continuous (trait) predictor. Ultimately, we believe that any reasonable SESOI would be likely to produce an ‘inconclusive’ result due to our sample sizes. Therefore, while we cannot rule out the possibility that the enacted extraversion-positive affect association depends on dispositional extraversion, we did not observe strong evidence for its influence. Our research is ultimately inconclusive regarding interactions, and future work will likely need substantially larger samples (and to define a SESOI a priori) to provide more definitive answers.

It is also possible that we did not observe stronger evidence of ‘costs’ to acting counter-dispositionally (cf. Jacques-Hamilton et al., 2019) due to methodological differences between studies. For example, participants in our experiments were asked to engage in fifteen extra minutes of introverted or extraverted behavior each day (mirroring the length of time used in lab-based studies), whereas Jacques-Hamilton and colleagues (2019) asked participants to modify their behavior in interactions with others “as much as possible” for one week, and Margolis et al. (2020) likewise instructed participants to ‘be as introverted/extraverted as you can’. Although comparisons of the duration and intensity of extraverted behavior are not possible between studies, it is likely that people engaged in extraverted behavior less frequently in our studies.

Notably, fewer trait interactions have been observed when participants have been asked to report on specific instances of behavior, for example via experience sampling methods or questionnaires on one’s day. Specifically, the moderating effect of trait extraversion on positive affect in the Jacques-Hamilton et al. (2019) study was observed in retrospective accounts but not in momentary data. The difference in task instruction within the present studies (i.e., 15 minutes) may make it more reasonable for introverts to introduce short bursts of extraverted behavior into their daily lives, rather than trying to adjust their general approach when interacting with other people (which would naturally be easier for dispositional extraverts). Therefore, dispositional levels of extraversion may influence the costs and/or benefits derived from extraverted behavior, at least for positive affect, when such behavior is enacted more frequently and is sustained over longer durations of time. Further research is required to determine the trade-offs between short-term and long-term counter-dispositional behavior and the hedonic benefits of sustained enacted extraversion.

Collectively, the accumulating evidence from observational and experimental data supports the trait-state isomorphism hypothesis (Fleeson, 2001). The trait-state isomorphism hypothesis also predicted the association between subjective vitality and state extraversion observed in each of our three experiments. Specifically, the association between trait extraversion and vitality (Ryan & Frederick, 1997) is predicted by the isomorphism hypothesis to hold at the state level, an association we observed consistently. However, given the strong correlations between measures of positive affect and subjective vitality, both measuring high-arousal and high-pleasantness constructs, the tendency for these outcomes to co-vary with state extraversion is perhaps not surprising and has been observed previously (Pickett et al., 2020).

Although consistently observed through a variety of methods, the mechanisms underlying the state extraversion/positive affect association are still not well-understood. One potential hypothesis for this association is that the relationship between extraversion and social interactions may partially explain this link. We attempted to dissociate social from non-social forms of extraversion in Study 3 with separate instructions. Participants who added socially motivated extraverted behavior to their daily lives (e.g., “I made plans with a friend and consciously made the effort to be more talkative and outgoing…”) did not report any more positive affect than did participants who engaged in non-social extraverted behavior (e.g., ”After finishing work, I took the bus down to the market and tried Ethiopian food, I went alone and made my way around the market until I found something that was new to me”). This finding is consistent with mediation analysis (Jacques-Hamilton et al., 2019) which did not detect a mediating role of social activity frequency and the positive affect/state extraversion relationship. Taken together, these results suggest a possible ‘alternative path’ for dispositional introverts who wish to elevate their positive affect through primarily non-social activities or for situations in which social contact is not feasible.

Limitations and Future Research

Our three experiments provide experimental confirmation that intentionally incorporating more extraverted behavior into one’s daily life can increase momentary levels of positive affect. However, four main limitations should be noted. First, the studies are each limited by low compliance rates, with many participants excluded from analysis for failing to complete a minimum number of daily activities or for non-compliance. This could be a result of the length of the study and/or loss of interest over the course of the week (Lefever et al., 2007). However, we cannot rule out the possibility that some degree of selective participation (i.e., person-activity fit) was present and may potentially bias the results, or limit generalizability in ways that would decrease the efficacy of a broad intervention. Additionally, although we attempted to assess participants two weeks following the post-test with the goal of assessing longer-term changes in well-being, significantly high attrition prevented analysis of these data.

Second, the experimental designs in Studies 2 and 3 were implemented entirely online, which we suspect resulted in lower task compliance and the selection of activities which may not be ideal for the purposes of the studies. In our first study, participants’ activities were discussed and selected with the assistance of a researcher; however, the transition to an entirely online intervention (which facilitated scalability) resulted in a reduced capacity for quality control. Although it is tempting to attribute the stronger results observed in Study 1 to this characteristic of the experimental design, especially when identifying significant pre-post changes in well-being, the smaller sample size and possible experimenter effects cannot be overlooked as being limiting factors.

Third, the ‘dosage’ of the experimental manipulation may have been insufficient to produce detectable changes in affect and well-being over time. One tentatively supporting piece of evidence for this suggestion comes from a recent 15-week study where participants who engaged in more enacted extraversion tasks were more likely to report positive changes in trait extraversion over time (Hudson et al., 2019). Although this experiment focused on trait change rather that well-being outcomes, it highlights the possibility that a higher frequency of enacted extraversion may be required for sustained changes in trait-related outcomes (e.g., positive affect, well-being).

Fourth, although the promise of enacted extraversion as a well-being increasing strategy is to provide individuals with a simple behavioural tool to increase their mood and well-being, our experiments are conducted at the group level and results cannot be inferred at the individual level. The findings from our two randomized controlled trials provide some evidence that average levels of positive affect may be enhanced at the group level. However, without further researching using idiographic methods, we must refrain from committing an ecological fallacy (Robinson, 1950) by suggesting that our experiments support enacted extraversion as a strategy for any given individual. Moreover, across the recent acting extraverted studies, there appears a possible trade-off between the amount of activity needed for lasting change and the emergence of concurrent costs for dispositional introverts (cf., Jacques-Hamilton et al., 2019).

Finally, although participants in all conditions received similar behavioural instructions, it is possible the behavioural adjectives of extraversion were more socially desirable than those for introversion and influenced participants’ expectations regarding the purpose of the study. Behavioural instructions in the introversion conditions were designed to counter this potential effect, however, it is unclear whether the study outcomes were influenced by social desirability.