Advances In Experimental Social Psychology Research Articles

When consumer decisions are moral decisions: Moral Foundations Theory and its implications for consumer psychology

AbstractAlthough researchers have considered the role of morality in consumer psychology over the years, such investigations often fail to (a) recognize the different values that consumers might hold, and (b) provide proper context for why different moral considerations emerge. Moral Foundations Theory (MFT; Graham et al., Advances in experimental social psychology, 2013, Academic Press; Haidt & Joseph, Daedalus, 2004, 133, 55) provides just such a conceptual framework for understanding the diversity of moral thought that exists across cultures and demographic groups. MFT describes morality not as a monolithic entity, but as a pluralistic set of intuitive values that were shaped by evolutionary pressures and edited by distinct cultures. We review the central claims of MFT and describe how the theory can offer new insights when applied to consumer psychology, providing examples from existing research on persuasion, emotion, and prosocial behavior.

Introduction to Michael A. Hogg's SPSSI Kurt Lewin Award Address

Introduction to Michael A. Hogg's SPSSI Kurt Lewin Award Address

Raising awareness about gender and language among teacher-training students: A cross-cultural approach

Abstract In accordance with the Education 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals, the aim of this study is to contribute to gender-sensitive teacher training and learning environments using matched guise-inspired methods. The article offers an account of activities aimed at raising awareness of issues related to linguistic gender stereotyping among teacher trainees in Sweden and the Seychelles. The cross-cultural comparative approach also provided an opportunity to raise students’ awareness of how gender stereotyping is culture-related, and therefore may differ depending on cultural context. Results show that there seems to be significant differences in how Swedish and Seychellois teacher trainees stereotype men and women. While both groups seem to associate typically feminine linguistic behaviour with features accommodated under Cuddy et al.’s (2008, “Warmth and competence as universal dimensions of social perception: The stereotype content model and the BIAS map.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 40, 61–149) “warmth dimension” (signalling interest, for example), behaviours typically associated with agentic behaviour and the competence dimension, such as taking space in a conversation and forcefully arguing one’s case, seem to be regarded as relatively masculine in Sweden, but not in the Seychelles, arguably a result of a generally negative construction of masculinity in the Seychelles. Based on the responses from a post-survey, it is evident that a majority of those who participated in the exercise gained new insights into the mechanisms of gender stereotyping, knowledge that they also could relate to themselves and their own behaviour.

Sharing Native Advertising on Twitter: Content Analyses Examining Disclosure Practices and Their Inoculating Influence

ABSTRACT Based upon a 3-year data set of Tweets linking to native advertising from leading U.S. news publications, this study provides human content analyses (n = 1,527) of the practice of native advertising disclosure in the field – both on publisher websites and when shared on Twitter – and explores whether disclosures serve the inoculating function of resistance to persuasion. Leveraging the Persuasion Knowledge Model (Friestad and Wright [1994]. “The persuasion knowledge model: How people cope with persuasion attempts.” Journal of Consumer Research 21 (June): 1–31) and inoculation theory (McGuire [1964]. “Inducing resistance to persuasion: Some contemporary approaches.” In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, edited by L. Berkowitz, 191–229. New York: Academic Press.), results show a) regular use of disclosures on publisher landing pages, b) the absence of disclosures in over half of publisher Twitter Cards, and c) the presence of disclosures corresponded to an increased likelihood of negatively-valenced Twitter posts.

What is agentic about the Spatial Agency Bias? How pragmatic relevance contributes to the spatial representations of actions

AbstractThe mental imagination of (social) actions has been shown to follow a left‐to‐right trajectory, with the thematic agent associated with the left position (Spatial Agency Bias, Suitner & Maass in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 53, 2016, p. 245–301). For example, individuals asked to choose a picture that visualizes the sentence “Tom kicks George” tend to choose an image where the agent, Tom, is positioned on the left‐hand side rather than on the right‐hand side. However, as an alternative to the thematic role of the agent, such findings may reflect a mental representation following pragmatic relevance. Specifically, a pragmatic perspective holds that word order and syntactic functions are strategic devices to communicate that the element is important for the sentence. Thus, positioning in the described picture‐matching task may actually reflect the agent's pragmatic relevance instead of agency per se. As a test, we vary whether sentences are written in the active versus the passive voice. Results from five studies indicate that the passive voice results in the tendency to place the agent on the right‐hand side rather than on the left‐hand side of a picture. Instead, the acted‐upon person is positioned on the left‐hand side of a picture. A sixth experiment reveals that for the passive voice, the agent is still seen as more agentic than the receiver, but is considered less relevant. The findings are congruent with the proposed pragmatic relevance account. Implications for the Spatial Agency Bias as well as for building mental representations in general are discussed.

Sweating the connection of uniform colours and success in sport: No evidence for the red win effect in elite women’s NCAA basketball

Efforts to research the link between uniform colours and performance in sport have gained momentum in recent years demonstrating a red superiority effect. The current investigation identified a gender gap in participation between laboratory experimental studies of performance, which are dominated by women participants, and archival game analysis research, which is almost exclusively conducted in elite men’s sports. To address this disparity, we conducted the first dedicated exploration of uniform colours with women’s American collegiate basketball teams during the national annual tournament (NCAA) in a period spanning eight seasons (2012–19). In contrast to the evidence from experimental research, we failed to detect an effect and the results remained null when several colours were tested and ranking was considered. Based on the findings, we conclude with mounting confidence that uniform colours do not exert influence over winning in relatively long-duration, low aggression team sports with substantial physical contact. We discuss the results in relationship to the colour-in-context theory (Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2012). Colour-in-context theory. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 45, pp. 61–125). Academic Press.) and highlight its shortcomings pertaining to sex as a moderator.

The Association Between Vertical Equity and Presidential Voting Behavior and Taxpayers’ Compliance

Since taking office, the President of the United States has consistently refused to make his tax returns available for public scrutiny. In so doing, he has broken with presidential tradition and kept people guessing about what his tax returns would show if they were disclosed. Interestingly enough, in the absence of concrete knowledge about the President’s tax circumstances, some taxpayers perceive that he did not pay his fair share and others perceive that he did. This situation presents an opportunity for us to consider how vertical equity perceptions about the President’s fair share of taxes, and identification with the President via voting behavior, are jointly associated with taxpayers’ compliance. Using insights from equity theory as reported in Adams (in: Berkowitz (ed) Advances in experimental social psychology, Academic Press, New York, 1965) and social learning theory as reported in Bandura (Social learning theory, General Learning Press, New York, 1971, Social learning theory, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1977), we anticipate and find that those taxpayers who perceive that the President did not pay his fair share of taxes and who most closely socially identify with him have the lowest tax compliance. We use a survey of 600 American taxpayers to capture their perceptions of vertical equity, voting behavior, and tax compliance intentions. Our results may reflect that taxpayers who identify with the President will tend to model his tax-related actions, or may also indicate that some taxpayers vote for a president whose actions are similar to their own. Insights and implications for ethics and tax researchers and tax policy makers are discussed.

Call for Papers: “What Drives Second- and Third-Party Punishment? Conceptual Replications of the ‘Intuitive Retributivism’ Hypothesis”

Call for Papers: “What Drives Second- and Third-Party Punishment? Conceptual Replications of the ‘Intuitive Retributivism’ Hypothesis”

A Latent Factor Approach to Belief in a Just World and its Association with Well-Being

Drawing on justice motive theory (Lerner et al. in Berkowitz and Walster (eds) Advances in experimental social psychology. Academic Press, New York, 1976), in the present work we examine belief in a just world as an underlying (latent) factor, reflected in general and personal beliefs. We first conducted a meta-analysis encompassing 51 articles, 76 samples, 19 countries and 23,900 participants, which revealed a positive association between the two forms of belief in a just world across studies (meta-analytic r = .52 [95% CI = .48, .56], p < .001) and within each of the individual samples. These results suggest that general and personal belief in a just world could be treated as joint indicators of a latent belief in a just world factor. In a second study, an online sample of participants (n = 311 participants, 54% women, Mage = 37.78 years) completed measures of general and personal belief in a just world, which we treated as indicators of latent belief in a just world. Measures of subjective well-being and psychological well-being were treated as indicators of latent well-being. Indicators loaded strongly on their respective latent factors, and the latent factors were strongly positively correlated (r = .74, p < .001). These results suggest that the link between belief in a just world and well-being may be even more substantial than has been previously recognized. In accordance with the original conceptualization of belief in a just world in justice motive theory, our results suggest benefits to examining the shared and unique aspects of general and personal beliefs in a just world.

Professionalisation of the Family Firm and Its Relationship with Personal Values

This study aims to determine the relationships between personal values (PVs) and the professionalisation of family firms. To achieve this objective, the theoretical model of PVs by Schwartz ( Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 25:1–65, 1992; Journal of Social Issues 50:19–45, 1994) and the multidimensional model of professionalisation by Dekker, Lybaert, Steijvers and Depaire ( Family Business Review 26(1): 81–99, 2013; Journal of Small Business Management 53(2): 516–538, 2015) were used, highlighting the inclusion of three more factors found in the literature and which became part of the extended model. As the data-collecting instrument, an online questionnaire was sent to Portuguese family firms, obtaining a final sample of 249 participants. To determine the relationships, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used, specifically Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), initially seeking to validate the constructs (PVs and professionalisation) by adjusting the general model. Then, the structural model was validated, determining the relationships between the variables of the constructs studied. The results demonstrated acceptance of the model and partial and total validation of most of the hypotheses investigated, showing that PVs are related to professionalisation of family firms. Some implications for theory and practice will also be presented.

Mapping Ideology: Combining the Schwartz Value Circumplex with Evolutionary Theory to Explain Ideological Differences

Schwartz Value Theory (SVT; Schwartz in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1–65, 1992) offers a coherent and well-organized framework for describing and explaining ideological differences. Though not developed within SVT, the pattern of tradeoffs among different values suggests adaption to an interacting set of selection pressures. The present project combines SVT with a variety of evolutionary theories to build a richer nomological network for explaining ideological differences. The paper first draws on evolutionary-coalitional theory (ECT; Sinn and Hayes in Political Psychology, 38, 1043–1064, 2017, in Political Psychology, 2018) to explain key strategic tradeoffs captured by SVT. ECT argues that coalitional conflict in the ancestral environment helped produce three distinct ideological orientations: Right Wing Authoritarianism/Binding, Social Dominance Orientation/Exploiting, and Universalizing/Liberating. Each orientation represents a specific strategic gambit for enhancing reproductive fitness with distinct costs and benefits. The paper then suggests how SVT can potentially offer an even more comprehensive framework for explaining ideological differences by drawing upon evolutionary theories related to life-history, signaling, parent-offspring conflict, and ethnic nepotism.

Chinese Proverb Scale: Development and validation of an indigenous measure of Chinese traditional values

The aim of this study was to develop and validate an indigenous measure of Chinese traditional values using Chinese proverbs. A sample of 363 Mainland Chinese undergraduates participated in Study 1, in which a 26‐item Chinese Proverb Scale (CPS) was developed through factor analysis on an initial pool of 118 Chinese proverbs. Four factors were clearly identified: (a) Diligence, (b) Integrity, (c) Self‐Preservation, and (d) Self‐Interest. The CPS showed satisfactory convergent validity with personal values (S. H. Schwartz, 1992, Advances In Experimental Social Psychology, San Diego, Academic Press) and social axioms (K. Leung et al., 2002, Journal of Cross‐Cultural Psychology, 33, p. 286). For incremental validity, the CPS predicted life satisfaction beyond the Big Five personality, personal values, and social axioms. In Study 2, a sample of 239 Mainland Chinese participants completed the CPS across two measurement occasions with an interval of 6 months. Longitudinal structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed the structure of the CPS was robust and invariant over time. In Study 3, a sample of 167 Chinese undergraduates from Hong Kong responded to an adapted version of the CPS. Multigroup SEM showed structural equivalence of the scale across the mainland and Hong Kong samples. The cultural origins of the factors in the CPS and future applications of the scale in various research areas are discussed.

Does Racial Discrimination Exist Within the NBA? An Analysis Based on Salary‐per‐Contribution*

ObjectiveTo explore whether racial discrimination exists in athlete pay within the National Basketball Association (NBA).MethodsI use the ratio between annual salary and standardized contribution to establish a salary‐per‐contribution index as a basis for comparison of salary differences between black and white NBA players. According to theory of social equity (Adams, 1965. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 2(4):267–99), when considering salary equality, it is necessary to consider differences in both inputs (here, contributions) and outputs (salaries) (Scully. 1974. American Economic Review 64(6):915–30).ResultsFor the period 1999–2016, salary‐per‐contribution is significantly higher for black players overall than for white players overall, being higher before 2006 (but not after). It is also higher for American (but not international) and nonrookie (but not rookie) black players than for white American and nonrookie players (respectively). A higher games started rate increases between black and white players.ConclusionGiven poor fit of measuring salary discrimination, existing literature exploring racism in the NBA from the perspective of salary may have inaccurate conclusions.

Interrelationships of Personal Values: A Moderated Mediation Analysis Based on Gender and Age

The present study describes ten personal values expressed by men and women from two countries, and it explores the relationships between two opposing values, Achievement and Benevolence, specifying Stimulation as a mediator between them. It is further explored whether such a mediation model could be further qualified by age and Gender as moderators. The 40-item Portraits Values Questionnaire (PVQ), measuring ten basic values, was administered to 1,000 young adults from two countries. Hierarchical regression methods were applied to examine mediation and moderation mechanisms.Minor gender and country differences emerged for some of the ten basic values. An indirect relationship among the three selected values was identified. Stimulation was found to operate as a mediator between achievement and benevolence. A conditional process model was established with Gender moderating the Achievement – Stimulation path (men had a steeper slope than women), whereas age moderated the Stimulation – Benevolence path (younger individuals had a steeper slope than older ones). Gender also moderated the Achievement – Benevolence path (men had a steeper slope than women). For men, the association between achievement and stimulation was stronger than for women. For the younger persons, the association between stimulation and benevolence was stronger than for older ones. For women, the level of benevolence was independent of their achievement level. The present analyses shed new light on indirect and differential associations among personal values, adding a novel perspective to research on cognitive mechanisms involved in the ten basic values’ becoming.&#x0D; References&#x0D; &#x0D; Bardi, A., &amp; Schwartz, S.H. (2003). Values and behaviour: Strength and structure of relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(10), 1207–1220.&#x0D; Berlyne, D. Conflict, arousal and curiosity. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1960.&#x0D; Burgoyne, C.B. &amp; Lea, S.E.G. (2006). Money is material. Science, 314(5802), 1091–1092.&#x0D; Hayes A. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.&#x0D; Kluckhohn, C. (1951). Values and value-orientations in the theory of action: An exploration in definition and classification. In: Toward a General Theory of Action, (pp. 388-433). T. Parsons &amp; E. Shils (Eds.), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.&#x0D; Korman, A. (1974). The Psychology of Motivation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.&#x0D; Maio, G. R., Hahn, U., Frost, J., &amp; Cheung, W. (2009). Applying the value of equality unequally: Effects of value instantiations that vary in typicality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(4), 598–614.&#x0D; Maio, G.R., Pakizeh, A., Cheung, W.Y. &amp; Rees, K.J. (2009). Changing, priming, and acting on values: effects via motivational relations in a circular model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(4), 699–715.&#x0D; Maslow, A.H. (1965). Eupsychian management. Homewood, IL: Dorsey.&#x0D; Parks-Leduc, L., Feldman, G., &amp; Bardi, A. (2015). Personality traits and personal values: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 19(1) 3–29.&#x0D; Parsons, T. &amp; Bales, R. F. (1953). Family, Socialization, and Interaction Process. Glencoe: Free Press.Prince-Gibson, E., &amp; Schwartz, S. H. (1998). Value priorities and gender. Social Psychology Quarterly, 61, 49-67.&#x0D; Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1-65.&#x0D; Schwartz, S. H. &amp; Sagiv, L. (2000). Value Priorities and Subjective Well-Being: Direct Relations and Congruity Effects. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 177-198.&#x0D; Schwartz, S. H., Melech, G., Lehmann, A., Burgess, S., Harris, M., &amp; Owens, V. (2001). Extending the cross-cultural validity of the theory of basic human values with a different method of measurement. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 32, 519-542.&#x0D; Vohs, K.D., Mead, N.L. &amp; Goode, M.R. (2006). The psychological consequences of money. Science, 314 (5802), 1154–1156.&#x0D; Wade, M.D., Liu, L.A. &amp; Vacek, J. (2011). Values and Upward Influence Strategies in Transition: Evidence From the Czech Republic. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42 (2), 288–306.&#x0D;

Normative Value Change Across the Human Life Cycle: Similarities and Differences Across Europe

Normative change in people’s value priorities (Schwartz, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 25:1–65, 1992) was examined by analyzing repeated cross sections of the 26 countries that participated in at least four of the first seven waves of the European Social Survey (2002–2015). For this purpose, we compared data from different samples taken from five historical cohorts over time in order to identify generalizable patterns in value development that could apply to most people. Results suggest that most cohorts increasingly valued Self-Transcendence over Self-Enhancement in the transition from late adolescence to young adulthood. During and after middle adulthood, age effects were virtually nonexistent in Eastern Europe, relatively weak in Southern Europe, and limited to midlife in North-Western Europe. The results also suggest that all cohorts, except most Northern and Western European cohorts in midlife, became relatively more conservative and less open with age. We present evidence that differences between historical cohorts produced some of the age–values associations that have been found in previous studies. Latent growth curve modeling was used to further summarize the observed intracohort-aging trajectories and to identify potential country-level moderators. This analysis showed that the positive association between normative aging and Self-Transcendence endorsement was stronger in countries that are more affluent.

Individual values and delinquency: on considering universals in the content and structure of values

ABSTRACTThe systematic relation between delinquency and the overall spectrum of individual values has not been a particular topic of psychological research in the past. To fill this gap, we refer to Schwartz’s [(1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1–65] theory of universals in the content and structure of values (TUV) and re-interpret the results of Hermann’s [(2003). Werte und Kriminalität. Wiesbaden: Springer] criminological research on individual reflexive values, norm acceptance, and self-reported delinquency against this background: We verify to what extent the Individual Reflexive Value Scale (IRVS) covers the overall spectrum of values defined by TUV. We validate this match by content analysis and multidimensional scaling (MDS) and compute IRVS-based basic and higher-order value scores. Confirmatory and spherical MDS with these scores yield the circular value structure postulated by TUV. Structural equation modelling (SEM) reveals systematic relations between basic values, norm acceptance and self-reported delinquency in accord with the ‘sinusoid curve hypothesis’. Moving around the value circle yields the highest negative correlations of self-reported delinquency with tradition and conformity and the highest positive correlations with hedonism and stimulation. These values are indicators of the higher-order value dimension ‘conservation’ versus ‘openness to change’. The significant impact of this value dimension on norm acceptance and delinquency is documented by means of SEM.

Parent-child proximity and personality: basic human values and moving distance.

BackgroundAn important event in many young people’s lives is moving out of the parental home. This event is often operationalized as the distance between parents and their children, i.e., parent-child proximity.MethodsThe present study (N = 1,451) analyzed correlates of parent-child proximity through the lens of human value theory (Schwartz, Advances in experimental social psychology, 1992). Besides a classical proximity measure (i.e., parent-child), we also calculated the distance between childhood and current place of residence (i.e., childhood-now), as well as parent-childhood proximity (distance between children’s childhood place of residence and the current place of residence of parents), which acts as a control group because this distance is most probably chosen by the parents.ResultsAs hypothesized, we found that participants valuing universalism and self-direction as important (i.e., associated with growth and anxiety-freedom) moved further away from the place where their parents live and the place where they grew up than participants valuing self-protection and anxiety-avoidance (e.g., tradition, security, conformity).ConclusionsThis study not only adds to research on psychological motivations to move, it endorses value theory as being a useful lens through which to analyze migration behavior.

It's a Matter of Trust: American Judgments of the Credibility of Informal Communicators on Solutions to Climate Change

Using an October 2013 national probability sample of US adults (N = 1737), we examine the credibility of informal communicators (e.g. neighbors, co-workers, religious leaders, and health professionals) on solutions to climate change (regulatory and technological solutions). We present our analysis in terms of Kruglanski et al.’s [(2005). Says who? Epistemic authority effects in social judgment. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 37, 345–392] epistemic authority framework, which explains dynamics of trust in formal sources of authority with specific expertise (e.g. climate scientists) and informal sources of authority in a person's life (e.g. a priest). Trust in formal communicators (scientists and President Obama) consistently predicts trust in informal communicators (e.g. health professionals), and perceived effectiveness of climate solutions. Results further show that social and demographic groups that do not primarily rely on formal communicators on solutions to climate change instead rely more on various informal communicators. For example, political conservatism positively predicts trust in religious leaders, and religiosity further predicts trust in congregants, neighbors, co-workers, bosses and health professionals on solutions to climate change. Discussion focuses on implications for future research, and recommendations for policy actors, environmental communicators, and social marketers interested in broadening the scope of climate outreach.

A brief psychological intervention to protect subjective well-being in a community sample.

Governments are using measures of subjective well-being in preference to more objective measures of social progress (e.g., gross domestic product), yet interventions to address well-being are often costly. The present study tests the ability of a brief psychological intervention based on self-affirmation theory (Steele in Advances in experimental social psychology, Academic Press, New York, 1988) to protect subjective well-being among a community sample likely to have diminished well-being (i.e., women aged 46years and older, Inglehart in Int J Comp Sociol 43: 391-408, 2002. doi: 10.1177/002071520204300309). One hundred and forty women aged 46years and older completed baseline measures of subjective well-being, interpersonal feelings and self-esteem at baseline before being randomized to a self-affirmation or control group. Subjective well-being, interpersonal feelings and self-esteem were assessed again at follow-up. Results showed that, controlling for baseline subjective well-being, the well-being of women who had self-affirmed was significantly higher at follow-up than those in the control condition. Affirming the self did not significantly influence interpersonal feelings or self-esteem, compared with the control condition. The findings suggest that a low-cost brief psychological intervention based on self-affirmation theory, with potentially large public health "reach," could be used to protect subjective well-being-a key aim of government policies.

If You Are Old and Do Not Want to Fall into The Traditional Stereotype—Be Physically Active!

Background/Study Context: Based on the stereotype content model and the behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotypes map (Cuddy et al., 2008; Advances in experimental social psychology [Vol. 40, pp. 61–149], New York: Academic Press), we examined whether being physically active may challenge the traditional stereotypes related to older adults.Methods: We compared how 94 participants (Mage = 24.48 years, SD = 7.15 years) judged one of three target groups (older adults in general, physically active older adults, and socially active older adults), with regard to perceived status and competition, warmth and competence judgments, emotional and behavioral reactions.Results: Results showed that being physically active was associated with higher status and competence. Physically active older adults were specifically viewed as an admired group eliciting both active (helping) and passive facilitation (associating) tendencies.Conclusion: Beyond the well-known health perspective related to the regular participation of older adults in physical activity, the present results open a social optimistic perspective, in which being physically active seems a promising way to challenge the widespread and resistant stereotype content of older people commonly perpetuated.