Effects Of Social Pressure Research Articles

Editors' note: Financial relationships between neurologists and industry: The 2015 Open Payments database

In “Financial relationships between neurologists and industry: The 2015 Open Payments database,” Drs. Ahlawat and Narayanaswami analyzed payments from the pharmaceutical and device industry to neurologists in 2015 using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments database (OP). In response, Dr. Sethi argues that lack of distinction between obvious bias and potential conflicts of interest (COIs) in OP risks eroding trust in physician–patient relationships, and proposes voluntary disclosures of relevant COIs with regulatory oversight as an alternative. In contrast, Drs. Robbins and Meyer view OP as an important step towards transparency by making COIs more widely available, and towards greater divestment from financial COIs through resultant social pressure. They present data suggesting a drop in investments and financial ownership among neurologists in OP from 2013 to 2016. Responding to these comments, Drs. Ahlawat and Narayanaswami note that voluntary disclosure may be limited by failure to recognize COIs and would add to physicians' reporting burden. They acknowledge that OP is a step forward, but note that detailed clarification of the nature of payments would allow full transparency and mitigate misinterpretation. They also note that the effect of social pressure or public access to OP on divestiture would be challenging to assess. In “Financial relationships between neurologists and industry: The 2015 Open Payments database,” Drs. Ahlawat and Narayanaswami analyzed payments from the pharmaceutical and device industry to neurologists in 2015 using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments database (OP). In response, Dr. Sethi argues that lack of distinction between obvious bias and potential conflicts of interest (COIs) in OP risks eroding trust in physician–patient relationships, and proposes voluntary disclosures of relevant COIs with regulatory oversight as an alternative.

Analysing the role of factors affecting farmers’ decisions to continue with agri-environmental schemes from a temporal perspective

The need to assess the impact of agri-environmental schemes from a long-term perspective has cast light on the temporal dynamics of farmer participation over the duration of single contracts. This assessment would help to better target and tailor schemes and achieve more persistent environmental benefits. This issue is addressed by considering the interplay of time, policy changes and background factors on farmers’ decisions. The farm, the farmer’s socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes and motivations, and social and informational factors were considered among the background factors, according to the theory of reasoned action and planned behaviour. A discrete-time duration model, i.e. the only approach that allows the full consideration of the effects of time and the dynamics of background factors in the continuation of agri-environmental schemes, was estimated. The analysis was based on a longitudinal sample of farmers located in the Veneto region of Italy who have adopted a specific scheme, i.e., plantation and/or maintenance of hedgerows and buffer strips, for at least one contract period within a time span of eighteen years (2000–2017). The results highlight that a farmer’s continuation of an agri-environmental scheme for a long period of time is the outcome of a mix of concurring factors, among which attitudes and motivations, as well as social factors, play important roles. The impact of these factors also evolves over time, with the effects of social pressure and neighbouring farms being the most important factors under recent policy rounds. These outcomes provide useful insights for rethinking policy design and information strategies for farmers in any new round of Rural Development Programmes.

The effect of social pressure from family and friends on turnout

Recent research about the decision to vote or abstain finds a causal effect of social networks and social pressure. Yet this literature does not examine how this social pressure is exerted and by whom. This study aims at correcting these shortcomings. Using a two-wave panel survey conducted in Canada, we distinguish between the pressure exerted by friends and the partner and between descriptive and injunctive norms. We find that most people are not subjected to strong injunctive pressure, social pressure is most prominent in the household (between partners), it is mostly descriptive, and it has a powerful effect.

The Social Costs of Public Political Participation: Evidence from a Petition Experiment in Lebanon

While it is widely appreciated that public political action can be socially costly, there is little evidence of the effects of social pressure on petition signing despite its importance as a mode o...

Factors Influencing Young Consumers of Organic Food Products to Lead a Healthy Lifestyle

Our society's concept of healthy lifestyle is limited to eating fruits and vegetables regularly ; however, when these items are filled with pesticides, rather than having a positive impact, it will adversely affect our health in the long run. Therefore, it is vital to know the attitude of young consumers towards organic food products. There is a high chance for beliefs and habits developed at a young age to prolong, thus giving this study its impetus to take place. Using the purposive sampling technique, 112 respondents (young college students) between the age group of 20 - 24 years participated in the study. Throughout the literature on buying of organic food products, the concept of fear and food safety concern has been treated as one construct, however, there are studies which stated that they can be treated as different. Along with that, a positive attitude does not lead to positive behaviour due to various influences from the environment. The present study found that both fear and food safety concern acted as a catalyst to motivate individuals to form a positive attitude towards organic food products to lead a healthy lifestyle. However, the interaction effect of social pressure had a higher chance of increasing the healthy lifestyle of an individual.

The psychological effects of fast food consumption on body image emotions

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the arousal of negative consumer emotions as a consequence of fast food consumption among individuals with restrained food consumption. Furthermore, a moderating effect of socio-cultural pressure to buffer these relationships is positioned for the first time.Design/methodology/approachThe field study is completed with data collected through an online survey among 353 customers by employing a random sampling technique. The collected data are analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis procedures.FindingsThe hypotheses related to the effects of fast food consumption on body image guilt and shame, body image guilt on planning diet and shame, moderator role of socio-cultural, in terms of shame, are accepted.Research limitations/implicationsA key limitation is data collected from individuals with restrained food consumption in Turkey which limits the generalizability of results to other countries and contexts.Practical implicationsThe results call for paying attention to socio-cultural pressures that enhance shame.Originality/valueThe primary contribution of this paper lies in the fact that fast food consumption is scantly related to the arousal of negative consumer emotions. Furthermore, moderating effects of social pressures and Turkish context are also unique to this study.

Effects of social pressure and child failure on parents’ use of control: An experimental investigation

Because research has shown that controlling parenting is related to general and school-related maladjustment in children, there is a need to examine antecedents of controlling parenting. In this study, we addressed the role of two sources of pressure (i.e., social pressure eliciting ego-involvement and child failure) on parents’ situational use of control. 124 parents worked with their 5th or 6th grade children on a puzzle task. The two sources of pressure were induced experimentally in a 2×2 design, with parents receiving instructions eliciting either ego-involvement or task-involvement and with children either failing or succeeding in the task. Following the task, there was a free choice period in which dyads could choose whether or not to make additional puzzles. In both phases of the experiment, we coded parents’ controlling interaction style, dyadic reciprocity, performance, and parents’ and children’s engagement. Additionally, in the free-choice period the dyads’ degree of persistence was registered. While induced child failure was related positively to parents’ controlling style during the initial puzzle activity, induced social pressure was related to parents’ controlling style in the free-choice period. In turn, a controlling style was related negatively to performance, reciprocity, and engagement. The findings confirm that parents’ use of a controlling style is a multi-determined phenomenon affected by different sources of pressure and undermining children’s performance and engagement.

The effect of social pressure on expenditures in Malawi

I vary the observability of windfall payments to 291 members of agricultural clubs in rural Malawi in order to study the effect of redistributive pressure on the timing of expenditures. While other studies have documented that social pressure affects the quantity of income and consumption, I focus on timing because spending money quickly may be a strategy for reducing obligatory transfers. Respondents who receive money in the presence of their agricultural club anticipate spending an extra 14 percent (0.28 standard deviations) in the week immediately following the payment than those who receive equivalent transfers in private settings. There are limited changes in the composition of spending, but some evidence that social pressure to share windfall income has a larger effect on poorer households.

Motor decisions are not black and white: selecting actions in the "gray zone".

In many situations, multiple actions are possible to achieve a goal. How do people select a particular action among equally possible alternatives? In six experiments, we determined whether action selection is consistent and biased toward one decision by observing participants' decisions to go over or under a horizontal bar set at varying heights. We assessed the height at which participants transitioned from going over to under the bar within a "gray zone"-the range of bar heights at which going over and under were both possible. In Experiment 1, participants' transition points were consistently located near the upper boundary of the gray zone, indicating a bias to go over rather than under the bar. Moreover, transitional behaviors were clustered tightly into a small region, indicating that decisions were highly consistent. Subsequent experiments examined potential influences on action selection. In Experiment 2, participants wore ankle weights to increase the cost of going over the bar. In Experiment 3, they were tested on a padded surface that made crawling under the bar more comfortable. In Experiment 4, we introduced a secondary task that required participants to crawl immediately after navigating the bar. None of these manipulations altered participants' decisions relative to Experiment 1. In Experiment 5, participants started in a crawling position, which led to significantly lower transition points. In Experiment 6, we tested 5- to 6-year-old children as in Experiment 1 to determine the effects of social pressure on action selection. Children displayed lower transition points, larger transition regions, and reduced ability to go over the bar compared to adults. Across experiments, results indicate that adults have a strong and robust bias for upright locomotion.

Social pressure and voting: A field experiment conducted in a high-salience election

A large-scale experiment assessed the turnout effects of the “Neighbors” mailer, which exerts social pressure to vote by disclosing the past turnout records of recipients and their neighbors. A prior large-scale experiment conducted in a low salience election found that this mailer increased turnout substantially. The experiment reported here gauges the effects of this mailer in the context of a hotly contested recall election. We find smaller but still sizable effects, especially for low-propensity voters. Turnout increases significantly in the presidential election several months later, and the immediate and downstream effects are similar regardless of whether the mailer is worded in partisan or nonpartisan terms. Using data furnished by the Obama campaign and several nonpartisan organizations, we find little evidence that receiving the Neighbors mailer caused people to become the targets of subsequent mobilizing activity, suggesting that the downstream effects of social pressure cannot be attributed to subsequent campaign contacts.

The Generalizability of Social Pressure Effects on Turnout Across High-Salience Electoral Contexts: Field Experimental Evidence From 1.96 Million Citizens in 17 States

Prior experiments show that campaign communications revealing subjects’ past turnout and applying social pressure to vote (the “Self” treatment) increase turnout. However, nearly all existing studies are conducted in low-salience elections, raising concerns that published findings are not generalizable and are an artifact of sample selection and publication bias. Addressing the need for further replication in high-salience elections, we analyze a field experiment involving 1.96 million subjects where a nonpartisan campaign randomly sent Self treatment mailers, containing a subject’s vote history and a comparison of each subject’s history with their state median registrant’s turnout behavior, in high-salience elections across 17 states in 2014. Sending the Self mailer increases turnout by 0.7 points or 2.2%. This effect is largely consistent across states, with somewhat larger effects observed in states with lower ex ante election salience. Our study provides precise evidence that social pressure effects on turnout are generalizable.

Taking the pressure: Unpacking the relation between norms, social hierarchies, and social pressures on states

This article advances a hierarchy-centered approach to the study of international social pressure on states. Prior scholarship has centered on the exposure of a gap between word and deed as key for social pressure. We argue that the scholarship on social pressure would benefit from paying more attention to the centrality of social hierarchies in the dynamics and effects of social pressure on states. It is through comparative assessments — the normative ordering of states as superior and inferior and placement in a social hierarchy — that social pressure is exerted and states are prodded into action. States positioned at the top or in the middle of normative hierarchies may be subjected to different social pressure than states positioned at the bottom. Developing this claim, we contend that normative hierarchies come in several forms. Reflecting on the dynamics of these normative hierarchies is important in and of itself, in our view, as it provides a deeper understanding of how norms generate shame, embarrassment, or status anxiety. That said, understanding normative hierarchies also gives us added purchase on explaining how states manage the social pressure of being ranked.

Language monitoring in bilinguals as a mechanism for rapid lexical divergence

Recent studies have highlighted divergent change as a more common outcome of language contact than previously thought. While convergent change is often attributed to bilingual cognitive pressures, divergent change has usually been explained by appealing to sociocultural factors. We argue that the effects of social pressures on linguistic systems must nevertheless be realized in how language is processed in the individual bilingual speaker and, therefore, that divergent change is also ultimately rooted in bilingual cognition. Since lexical forms are most susceptible to contact-induced divergent change we focus on their production. We begin by developing a cognitive model that combines Grosjean’s language mode with a later output-monitoring stage. The parameters to the model are then fit to the results of an experiment in which bilinguals are seen to avoid shared lexical items. These best-fit parameters form the basis of a series of multi-agent simulations that show rapid divergence in the lexica of languages with large proportions of bilinguals. We consider the implications of these findings for the psycholinguistic study of bilingual lexical selection, the construction of phylogenies, and the reconstruction of language family histories.

Secessionist Urges in Catalonia: Media Indoctrination and Social Pressure Effects

Recent tensions between Catalonian secessionism and Spanish central state erupted during the deep economic downturn that hit Southern European countries around 2010. The rapidly growing rise of a secessionist movement which demanded an immediate vote for self-determination became a major political conflict when the Regional Government decided to lead the claims to achieve secession using devices provided by Catalonian Statute of Autonomy (Home Rule). Different analyses have been used to understand such challenge: from comparisons about economic and fiscal inequalities among Spanish regions to descriptions of perceived neglect or mistreatment from the central State. Strategic models have been also applied to foresee plausible scenarios for the ongoing conflict. Despite their virtues, these attempts were unable to explain the abruptness of secessionism and they failed to identify the triggers that converted an old but convivial tension into a potentially damaging clash among neighbors. Here I present data pointing towards two psychological factors that have played an important role on the mounting wave of demands of self-determination: Intensive persuasion by local media and continuous social pressure through monopolizing the public space with secessionist symbols. If the present depiction is correct the recent secessionist campaign in Catalonia will be remembered as an example of mass indoctrination and social intimidation within a democratic context.

The effects of social pressure and emotional expression on the cone of gaze in patients with social anxiety disorder

Background and objectivesPatients with social anxiety disorder suffer from pronounced fears in social situations. As gaze perception is crucial in these situations, we examined which factors influence the range of gaze directions where mutual gaze is experienced (the cone of gaze). MethodsThe social stimulus was modified by changing the number of people (heads) present and the emotional expression of their faces. Participants completed a psychophysical task, in which they had to adjust the eyes of a virtual head to gaze at the edge of the range where mutual eye-contact was experienced. ResultsThe number of heads affected the width of the gaze cone: the more heads, the wider the gaze cone. The emotional expression of the virtual head had no consistent effect on the width of the gaze cone, it did however affect the emotional state of the participants. Angry expressions produced the highest arousal values. Highest valence emerged from happy faces, lowest valence from angry faces. ConclusionThese results suggest that the widening of the gaze cone in social anxiety disorder is not primarily mediated by their altered emotional reactivity. Implications for gaze assessment and gaze training in therapeutic contexts are discussed. LimitationsDue to interindividual variability, enlarged gaze cones are not necessarily indicative of social anxiety disorder, they merely constitute a correlate at the group level.

Social Endorsement Cues and Political Participation

Which individuals are most responsive to get-out-the-vote (GOTV) messages that emphasize the social aspects of voting? Recent literature has shown that GOTV messages that emphasize the social environment in which an individual is embedded are particularly effective at increasing voting rates. Until now, we have not had good estimates for the types of people for whom social GOTV messages are most effective. We report a new set of disaggregated results of a randomized controlled trial of political mobilization messages delivered to 61 million Facebook users during the 2010 U.S. Congressional elections. The results suggest that social endorsement cues are differentially effective for different types of political behaviors—political expression, information seeking, and voting—and for different kinds of people, based on both demographic and social characteristics, raising new questions about the mechanisms explaining social pressure effects.

Influence of Agent Type and Task Ambiguity on Conformity in Social Decision Making

Previous research has demonstrated reliable effects of social pressure on conformity and social decision-making in human-human interaction. The current study investigates whether non-human agents are also capable of inducing similar social pressure effects; in particular, we examined whether the degree of physical human-likeness of an agent (i.e., appearance) modulates conformity and whether potential effects of agent type on conformity are modulated further by task ambiguity. To answer these questions, participants performed a line judgment task together with agents of different degrees of humanness (human, robot, computer) in either a high or low ambiguity version of the task. We expected an increase in conformity rates for agents with increasing levels of physical humanness, as well as for increasing levels of task ambiguity. Results showed low-level conformity with all agents, with a significant difference in conformity between the high and low ambiguity version of the task (i.e., stronger compliance for the high versus the low task); the degree of humanness, however, did not have an influence on conformity rates (neither alone or in combination with task type). The results suggest that when performing a task together with others, participants always conform to some degree with the social interaction partner independent of its level of humanness; the level of conformity, however, depends on task ambiguity with stronger compliance across agents for more ambiguous tasks.

Age at Onset of Puberty and Adolescent Depression: "Children of 1997" Birth Cohort.

Timing of onset of puberty has fallen, with profound and detrimental consequences for health. We examined the associations of earlier onset of puberty with the presence of depression in early to middle adolescence. The study examined prospective adjusted associations of age at onset of puberty, based on clinically assessed Tanner stage for breast/genitalia and pubic hair development, and self-reported presence of depression, assessed from the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire on average at 13.6 years (n = 5795 [73%]). These factors were examined by using multivariable logistic regression in a population-representative Hong Kong Chinese birth cohort (ie, the "Children of 1997"). We also assessed whether associations varied according to gender. Association of age at onset of breast/genitalia development with the presence of depression varied according to gender. Earlier onset of breast development was associated with higher risk of the presence of depression (odds ratio, 0.83 per 1 year increase in age of onset [95% confidence interval, 0.70 to 0.98]) adjusted for age, socioeconomic position, mother's place of birth, birth order, secondhand smoke exposure, parental age, survey mode, gender-specific birth weight z score, BMI z score at 7 years, and parental marital status. In boys, similarly adjusted, age at onset of genitalia development was unrelated to the presence of depression. Earlier age at onset of pubic hair development was unrelated to the presence of depression in girls and boys. Early onset of breast development was associated with high risk of the presence of depression. Whether these findings are indicators of the effects of hormones or transient effects of social pressures remain to be determined.

The impact of social pressure on tax compliance: A field experiment

We study the effect of social pressure on tax compliance, focusing on the compliance of shop sellers to the legal obligation of releasing tax receipts for each sale. We carry out a field experiment on bakeries in Italy, where a strong gap exists between the legal obligation and the actual behavior of sellers. Social pressure is manipulated by means of an explicit request for a receipt when not released. We employ an innovative approach to the identification of the treatment effect. We find that a single request for a receipt causes a 17 per cent rise in the probability of a receipt being released for a sale occurring shortly thereafter, causing on average more than two receipts to be released. We also find strong evidence of persistence in compliance decisions.

When The “Why” Makes You Socially Useful

Abstract. This research investigates whether higher-level act identities, which indicate why one is performing a given action or the effects it will have, is more socially valued than lower-level act identities, which indicate how one performs the action. We investigated this question using three complementary paradigms involving self-presentation (Study 1, N = 39), identification (Study 2, N = 79), and a judge (Study 3, N = 63), respectively. Overall, we found that higher-level act identities met with greater social approval. In Studies 2 and 3, we found that higher-level act identities were valued because of their social utility and not associated with social desirability. We discuss the benefits of using a normative approach for understanding action identification processes and the effect of social pressure on endorsements of higher-level act identities.