Experimental Social Psychology Research Articles

Proposing an Islamic virtue ethics beyond the situationist debates

ABSTRACT I begin the first part by showing how situationism should make us question traditional understandings of virtues as intrinsic dispositions. I concentrate specifically on situationist experiments related to mood. I then introduce Islamic virtue ethics and the dawa movement. In parts two and three I examine ethnography of the dawa movement to explore how they deal with worries about the influence of mood on their virtue. In part two I show how they train their habits in very traditional virtue ethics ways in order to be more resilient when faced with virtue-diminishing affective situations. In part three I show how the situation, rather than hindering practitioners, is recruited into helping these women achieve piety. I conclude, in part four, by showing the dawa movement's creative use of the Islamic veil as a way to help these women deal with the objection that one cannot avoid all bad situations. Going beyond social psychological experiments, I examine two methodological sources not found in situationist debates. First, I argue for ethnography as an empirical method through which to study virtue. I draw on ethnography of the Islamic women's dawa movement. Secondly, the work in the philosophy of mind on ‘affective scaffolding’.

Organizational identification and leader evaluation in a global workplace: Interaction of self‐uncertainty, self‐construal, and organizational culture

AbstractPast studies in social psychology, and in organizational psychology, have incorporated social identity theory but have not specifically examined the effects of self‐construal and self‐uncertainty on an individual's organizational identification. Through two social psychology experiments, the present research advances the literature by studying the effects of three predictor variables (self‐construal, self‐uncertainty, and organizational culture) on the criterion variables of identification with the organization, commitment to the organization, extra‐role behaviors (Study 1), and leader evaluations (Study 2). Study 1 (N = 256) found that participants evaluated a self‐inclusive organization more favorably when it possessed a relational (as opposed to nonrelational) organizational culture. This effect was, as predicted, moderated by self‐uncertainty such that it was significantly stronger under high rather than low self‐uncertainty. Study 2 (N = 336) examined the same criterion variables as the previous study but with the addition of leader evaluation. It was found that interdependent participants identified with and were more committed to their organization. Participants with an interdependent self‐construal and high levels of self‐uncertainty rated their leader more favorably when in a relational (as opposed to nonrelational) organization. Additionally, a significant three‐way interaction between the predictors was explored. Future research directions and wider implications for strengthening employee identification and leader evaluations in organizations are discussed.

Meaning and Replicability of Social Psychological Experiments: A Personal Account

In this paper I describe the gradual evolution of experimental social psychology from a so called “science of discovery”, with invariant findings over time and space, to an art of theatrical reflection with self-made reproductions of social life to so engage in more thoughtful action. I do this by means of a narrative account of my sixty year long personal experience with the various changes in the discipline, from the many cases of non-replicability early in my career, to the splendid discovery by vigilant students at my department of the probably most impressive case of fraud in the history of the social sciences, to the persistent denial of a need for a new logic by orthodox positivists in the discipline, even after more than half of the carefully designed replications of important experiments in the discipline failed. I look at this evolution through the lens of gradual objectification in science as a whole, from the most distant objects, such as stars, to the closer and closer reality of our own existence, namely the production and processing of meaning, and the inevitable recursivity (historicity) and incompleteness (one cannot include one’s own discourse in the discourse one has at that moment) of that endeavour. I also describe moments of institutional evolution, its political besides scientific interest, and encounters with the most influential protagonists in the development of the new logic. I also reflect a moment on the theoretical and methodological implications of that new logic, and end with showing how the theme of social engagement and the move toward cultivated action, rather than by freezing history in the so called truth of invariance, was actually the core idea in the work of Kurt Lewin, and has been used inadvertently in the subsequent use of experiments in the discipline, even by those who pretended to be the astronomers of the mind. But with the clear note that reflection on social life in the form of self-made reproductions of that life, is probably the most human thing we can do, and enables us to create culture, rather than blind evolution in merely physical or biological terms. So, making experimental social psychology a valuable tool of humanization as well, but only when properly used.

An Experimental Attempt to Mitigate the Illegal Practice of Using Race as a Deterministic Variable in Prosecutorial Peremptory Challenges

Before a person becomes a juror, they are a venire person who must clear voir dire, the process by which attorneys pare the original pool of potential jurors down to the standard twelve. There is much research that exists supporting the posit that White jurors are harsher toward minority defendants than they are to White defendants (Mitchell, Haw, Pfeifer & Meissner, 2005). Furthermore, group polarization is a common occurrence that has been studied since James Stoner’s paper entitled “Risky and cautious shifts in group decisions: The influence of widely held values” (1968), suggesting that a group (jury) will have more bias as an aggregate than the individual (jurors) will themselves exhibit. Thus, heterogeneity of race in a jury would likely mitigate the potential for racial bias to be a consideration in jury decisions. In fact, in Batson v. Kentucky 476 U.S. 79 (1986), the Supreme Court ruled that race must not be a factor when attorneys consider whether a venire person will or will not eventually become a juror during voir dire. However, recent cross-disciplinary research conducted by Sommers and Norton (2007) has applied experimental social psychology methods to explore this important legal issue. These experiments indicate that a more homogenous jury may still be the outcome of voir dire, regardless of the Batson decision. The paper that follows is a summary of the theoretical basis for an ongoing study.

Waiting and walking with strangers: a socio-psychological pedestrian experiment on joint action in anonymous situations

Research on pedestrian dynamics has generally dealt with temporary gatherings of people who do not know each other personally. These gatherings are often framed as highly individualized encounters in which social interactions play no or only a marginal role. However, recent research based on self-categorization theory showed the relevance of salient social identity for crowd dynamics. Drawing on the interactionist approach of social identity theory and the work of Erving Goffman and Alfred Schütz, this paper aims to show that anonymous encounters are carefully concerted social phenomena. The authors present the results of an exploratory social psychological experiment ( N = 83), in which groups of participants were asked to wait for 5 min in a designated area with different communicative conditions and then to walk to a narrow exit. Based on the assumption that communication and conformity to expectations influences the behaviour of those present, we introduced four modifications during the waiting time and analysed questionnaire data and video recordings in a mixed-methods design. The results show that direct communication correlates with higher speed, cell phone use with greater distance to the nearest neighbour, and unexpected behaviour with slower movement.

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

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

Incident at Vichy

Incident at Vichy

Why We Hate‐Watch: The Role of Nostalgia and Investment in WWE Viewership

Why We Hate‐Watch: The Role of Nostalgia and Investment in <scp>WWE</scp> Viewership

Some conceptual deficits of psychological models of dehumanization

This paper examines the conceptual adequacy of three major accounts of dehumanization: Haslam's “dual model,” Waytz and Epley's “mind perception” model, and Fiske's “stereotype content” model. Taking Nazi antisemitism as a paradigmatic example of dehumanization, all three of these are found to be conceptually inadequate. Further, all three represent humanness as attributed incrementally, which is inconsistent with a causally essentialist account of the category of the human, which is needed to account for dehumanizers’ assertions that although dehumanized people appear human, they are not really human “on the inside.” The three accounts also fail insofar as they do not have the resources to explain why dehumanized people are often represented as monstrous or demonic beings. Finally, making sense of dehumanization requires one to move beyond experimental social psychology to take seriously the sociohistorical factors that produce dehumanization.

Tracing the career arc of Joost A. M. Meerloo: Prominence, fading, and premonitions of menticide

This article traces the career arc of Dutch psychoanalyst Joost A. M. Meerloo by examining his biography and his psychology of interrogation and confession. His life story, particularly his experiences during the German occupation of the Netherlands and his escape to England during World War II, shaped his views on these issues, as well as his rise to prominence as an expert on these topics in the United States. His psychoanalytic perspectives on interrogation and confession, including false confession, reflected the zeitgeist of the First Wave of Cold War interrogation tactics and related scholarship. His career as a scholar of interrogation faded with the study of distinct interrogation tactics used by communists during the Korean War, the emergence of experimental social psychology, and a growing cohort of scholars who rejected his psychoanalytic views in favor of more contemporary approaches. For these reasons, his work remains undervalued, increasing the risks that today’s scholars will fail to recognize his larger contributions and his warnings about vulnerability and psychologists’ roles in military interrogations. The article reviews the rise and fall of the career of Joost A. M. Meerloo as a scholar of Cold War interrogation, including his contributions and his unheeded warnings about vulnerability and psychologists’ roles in military interrogations.

Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology: Keely A. Muscatell.

The Early Career Awards, given for the first time in 1974, recognize the large number of excellent early career psychologists. Recipients of this award may not have held a doctoral degree for more than nine years. For sweepingly integrative approaches to understanding how social experiences contribute to health and illness. Keely A. Muscatell expertly weaves theory and methods from experimental social psychology, cognitive and affective neuroscience, psychoneuroimmunology, physiology, pharmacology, and population health to fundamentally reshape multiple areas of health psychology. Her work offers groundbreaking insights into the pernicious biological consequences wrought by entrenched lack of privilege, the neural and molecular mechanisms that underlie stress-induced inflammatory responses, and the bidirectional links between inflammation and social psychological processes. In combination, her scientific creativity, lucid writing, and unwavering commitment to ameliorating health disparities launched the interdisciplinary subfield of social psychoneuroimmunology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Twilight of Rationality

Twilight of Rationality

Reply to the commentaries: A radical revision of experimental social psychology is still needed.

Are the landscapes of real-world decisions adequately represented in our laboratory tasks? Are the goals and expertise of experimental participants the same as real-world decision-makers? Are we neglecting crucial forces that lead to group outcomes? Are the contingencies necessary for producing experimental demonstrations of bias present in the real world? In the target article, I argued that the answers to these questions are needed to understand whether and how laboratory research can inform real-world group disparities. Most of the commentaries defending experimental social psychology neglected to directly address these main arguments. The commentaries defending implicit bias only revealed the inadequacy of this concept for explaining group disparities. The major conclusions from the target article remain intact, suggesting that experimental social psychology must undergo major changes to contribute to our understanding of group disparities.

Experimental studies of bias: Imperfect but neither useless nor unique.

Cesario provides a compelling critique of the use of experimental social psychology to explain real-world group disparities. We concur with his targeted critique and extend "the problem of missing information" to another common measures of bias. We disagree with Cesario's broader argument that the entire enterprise be abandoned, suggesting instead targeted utilization. Finally, we question whether the critique is appropriately directed at experimental social psychologists.

Surely not all experimental studies of bias need abandoning?

Cesario misrepresents experimental social psychology. The discipline encompasses significantly more than implicit bias research, including controlled decision making and real-world behavioral observations. Paradoxically, while critiquing popular implicit bias tasks, Cesario also describes task refinements that have significantly advanced their external validity and our contextual understanding of bias. Thus rather than abandonment, a call for "continued improvement" is a far more sensible proposition.

The importance of ecological validity, ultimate causation, and natural categories.

The target article raises important questions about the applicability of experimental social psychology research on topics with policy implications. This commentary focuses on the importance of attending to a variety of factors to improve ecological validity as well as considering the ultimate factors shaping behavior and the role of natural categories in the stability of stereotypes and their influence.

External validity of social psychological experiments is a concern, but these models are useful

We agree that external validity of social psychological experiments is a concern, we disagree these models are useless. Experiments, reconsidered from a situated cognition perspective and non-linearly combined with other methods (qualitative and simulations) allow grasping decision dynamics beyond bias outcomes. Dynamic (vs. discrete) insights regarding these processes are key to understand missing forces and bias in real-world social groups.

Developmental research assessing bias would benefit from naturalistic observation data.

Cesario's critiques and suggestions for redesigning social psychology experiments echo Dahl's (2017) call for developmental researchers to use experimental and naturalistic methods in a complementary manner for understanding children's development. We provide examples of how naturalistic observations can rectify Cesario's missing flaws for developmental studies investigating children's social biases and help researchers derive theories they can then experimentally test.

Pathogens are linked to human moral systems across time and space

Infectious diseases have been an impending threat to the survival of individuals and groups throughout our evolutionary history. As a result, humans have developed psychological pathogen-avoidance mechanisms and groups have developed societal norms that respond to the presence of disease-causing microorganisms in the environment. In this work, we demonstrate that morality plays a central role in the cultural and psychological architectures that help humans avoid pathogens. We present a collection of studies which together provide an integrated understanding of the socio-ecological and psychological impacts of pathogens on human morality. Specifically, in Studies 1 (2,834 U.S. counties) and 2 (67 nations), we show that regional variation in pathogen prevalence is consistently related to aggregate moral Purity. In Study 3, we use computational linguistic methods to show that pathogen-related words co-occur with Purity words across multiple languages. In Studies 4 (n = 513) and 5 (n = 334), we used surveys and social psychological experimentation to show that pathogen-avoidance attitudes are correlated with Purity. Finally, in Study 6, we found that historical prevalence of pathogens is linked to Care, Loyalty, and Purity. We argue that particular adaptive moral systems are developed and maintained in response to the threat of pathogen occurrence in the environment. We draw on multiple methods to establish connections between pathogens and moral codes in multiple languages, experimentally induced situations, individual differences, U.S. counties, 67 countries, and historical periods over the last century.

Experimentální laboratoř PLESS

The PLESS laboratory was established in 2013 at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University. It provides both physical and online space for the implementation of research, a database of contacts for the recruitment of participants, and know-how for the technical support of studies. The created facilities are used by the members of the laboratory for their researches, in particular in the fields of experimental social psychology, psychology of decision-making, and behavioural economics. About all the studies carried out so far, the members of our team, and the studies currently under investigation topics we are working on, you can find out more at www.pless.cz.