ABSTRACT Past research, often using Cyberball—an online ball‐tossing game with two or more preprogrammed players—showed that being socially excluded produces various negative emotions and lower need satisfaction. However, in everyday life, people may experience the threat of social exclusion more frequently than actual exclusion. Across two experiments (total N = 783), contrasting a newly developed threat of exclusion condition with the standard exclusion and standard inclusion condition using Cyberball, results showed that the threat of exclusion (relative to inclusion and exclusion) is characterized by elevated fear and hope, intermediate need satisfaction and specific ball toss behaviour promoting both inclusive (reciprocity) and exclusive bonds (bias), possibly to avoid that the threat of exclusion becomes a reality. These findings demonstrate that the threat of social exclusion is associated with a unique psychological and behavioural profile that may have evolved to cope with and ward off actual exclusion.

ABSTRACT National identity is widely assumed to be an important basis for individuals’ willingness to fight for their country; yet, most previous research has focused on individual‐level identity, with limited attention to collective‐level processes. Building on a conception of collective identity, this study distinguishes national identity at the individual level from national identity as a collective property of societies. Secondary analyses of data from Waves 5 (2005–2009) and 6 (2010–2014) of the World Values Survey involved multilevel modelling to estimate both individual‐ and collective‐level associations between national identity and willingness to fight. National identity predicted willingness to fight at both levels in the multilevel models. Collective‐level national identity remained a significant predictor of willingness to fight after controlling for secular and emancipative cultural values. The analysis of contextual effects further revealed that the relationship is stronger at the collective level than at the individual level. The findings suggest that collective‐level national identity is a core element of the macro‐level process through which the likelihood of war and conflict increases.

ABSTRACT This research investigated the impact of grammatically gendered language in Arabic job advertisements on recruiters’ evaluation of applicants’ job fit, wage allocation, and hireability. In a between‐participants hiring‐simulation experiment, Arabic‐speaking recruiters from local companies in Egypt ( N = 181) evaluated either a woman or a man applying for a job advertised in gender inclusive language (grammatically gendered role pairs in the order feminine/masculine; e.g., مسؤولة/مسؤول ; sales officer [+fem]/sales officer [+masc]) or solely masculine language ( مسؤول ; sales officer [+masc]). The results revealed that in the masculine language condition, the woman was rated as less fitting, received lower wage allocations, and was less likely recommended to be hired than the man, whereas in the gender inclusive language condition, the woman and the man were evaluated comparably. Furthermore, the woman in the gender inclusive language condition was evaluated as better fit for the job, received higher wage allocations, and was more likely recommended to be hired, in comparison to the woman in the masculine language condition. Overall, these findings highlight the need to promote gender‐inclusive language in recruitment practices in Arabic to reduce discrimination against women in these settings.

ABSTRACT Reclaimed hate speech is generally seen as a positive phenomenon by minority groups and, to some degree, by majority groups. However, previous research has not examined whether it might produce harmful effects similar to traditional hate speech. In three experimental studies ( n = 489; n = 242; n = 181), we found that reclaimed homophobic hate speech does bear negative consequences. Specifically, exposure to reclaimed homophobic hate speech leads majority‐group members to become desensitized to traditional hate speech, which, in turn, worsens their attitudes toward gay people. This effect, however, has only been observed among conservative and moderate individuals. Moreover, exposure to reclaimed homophobic hate speech worsens the mood of gay people without reducing the negative impact of traditional hate speech. Overall, our findings indicate that the negative side effects of reclaimed homophobic language may outweigh its benefits and that the associated costs may be unacceptable.

ABSTRACT Building on theories that position gratitude as a social and self‐transcendent emotion, this research examined whether gratitude reduces people's desire for money across four preregistered studies ( N = 3,125). Study 1 provided evidence that gratitude was negatively associated with money desire across three countries (the United Kingdom, Mexico and South Africa). Studies 2–4 provided experimental evidence that various gratitude manipulations consistently reduced money desire. Study 3 revealed two key psychological mechanisms: enhanced social connectedness and increased self‐transcendence. Study 4 examined boundary conditions, finding that gratitude's effect on money desire was strongest among individuals with high levels of beliefs in money's symbolic meaning. These findings suggest that gratitude interventions may help reduce materialistic attitudes by addressing the fundamental psychological desire for money itself, operating through specific mechanisms that foster connection to others and transcendence of narrow self‐interest.

ABSTRACT The social exclusion of individuals with mental illnesses remains a major social issue. Building on recent advances in research on social evaluation, two studies measuring the content and affective properties, that is, valence and arousal, of spontaneous stereotypes assessed the relevance of the Big Two model, and its facets (friendliness, morality, ability, assertiveness) for stereotypes associated with mental illnesses. While stereotypes associated with different mental illnesses came out generally negative, the importance of specific facets varied greatly from one mental illness to another, with morality and assertiveness facets emerging as particularly central. Turning to the affective properties, arousal proved especially informative in relation to morality, with immorality characteristics being associated with high arousal. This research contributes to a better understanding of stereotypes about mental illness and highlights the pivotal role of morality and its link to arousal.

ABSTRACT This research investigates how political ideology shapes laypeople's evaluation of scientific studies examining cognitive differences between groups. In three experiments in Germany and the United States, participants evaluated identical research reports that varied only in the intergroup context—racial (Blacks/Whites) or ideological (liberals/conservatives)—and in which group appeared cognitively superior. Leftists/Liberals consistently rated studies favouring liberals over conservatives as more methodologically sound, less biased and more worthy of pursuit than parallel studies reporting Whites outperforming Blacks. Only White US conservatives (but not German rightists or Black US conservatives) showed a ‘mirror image’ pattern. Although both ideological groups’ research evaluations aligned with ideological in‐group favouritism, only left‐leaning participants tuned their evaluations to what they deemed socially acceptable research. These results contribute to debates over ideological (a)symmetry in lay assessments of contentious research, demonstrate its context dependence and expose a left–right asymmetry in the motivational processes underlying judgements of controversial science.