Studies 1a Research Articles

Setting Appropriateness and Romantic Relationship Initiation Success.

Does the setting in which a relationship initiation attempt occurs matter to its success? Identical initiations could yield differential success if enacted in different settings. Data from five independent samples highlight the role settings play in the perception of (hypothetical) relationship initiation attempts and (expectations of) their success. Study 1a sourced a wide variety of settings for real-world relationship initiations. A separate sample rated the identified settings on initiation appropriateness (Study 1b). Study 2 tested the appropriateness and associated outcomes of initiation settings while varying aspects of the interpersonal context (initiator attractiveness, Study 2a; initiator familiarity, Study 2b; sexual nature of proposition, Study 2c). Irrespective of initiator attractiveness, familiarity, or type of proposal, perceptions of initiations' success were impacted by the settings' appropriateness. This work is the first to empirically test whether perceptions and outcomes of initiation attempts differ as a function of the setting in which they occur.

Repairing damaged professional relationships with leader apologies: An examination of trust and forgiveness

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of different leader apology expressions in restoring workplace relationships after transgressions. We propose that “ideal” apology expressions, such as those that are sincere, can act as signals that the transgressing leader is trustworthy and that the relationship between the victim and offender is safe to restore through forgiveness. We support this contention with findings from four studies. In a hypothetical scenario involving a mid-level leader’s transgression (Study 1), we found that a sincere apology expression was the most effective at facilitating forgiveness compared to alternative expressions (basic, amends, remorse, responsibility, insincere). Additional field studies (Studies 2a and 2b) and an experiment that manipulated leader trust (Study 3) also supported the role of a sincere apology in facilitating forgiveness through the mechanism of increased leader trust. Our findings have implications for leadership theory and practice.

Spontaneous self-affirmation predicts more meaning and less boredom

Chronic boredom is associated with many negative psychological outcomes, including undermining perceived meaning in life. Meanwhile, emerging research suggests that spontaneous self-affirmation, that is, an inclination to self-affirm, is linked to greater well-being and buffers against psychological threats. We investigated the relationship between spontaneous self-affirmation, perceptions of meaning in life, and boredom proneness with four correlational studies. Study 1a (N = 166) demonstrated that people inclined to self-affirm experience greater perceptions of meaning in life. Study 1b (N = 170) confirmed that spontaneous self-affirmation is associated with lower levels of boredom proneness. Study 2a (N = 214) and Study 2b (N = 105) provided evidence for our central hypothesis, showing that spontaneous self-affirmation predicts lower levels of boredom proneness via greater perceptions of meaning in life. These findings confirm that elevating meaning in life through psychological resources, like spontaneous self-affirmation, may limit boredom. Our work extends the emerging well-being benefits of spontaneous self-affirmation, by demonstrating associations with higher meaning in life and lower boredom proneness.

Enhancing the profitability of pay what you want: A study of suggested prices

AbstractA suggested price is oftentimes utilized in practice to enhance the profitability of pay what you want (PWYW). In this paper, we focus on this suggested price strategy. We conduct five experiments to explore factors that impact buyers' payments after seeing the suggested price. In Study 1, we show a relationship between the suggested price and payments. Intuitively, a higher suggested price results in increased payments. Studies 2A and 2B demonstrate that the relationship between the suggested price and payments is mediated by cost estimation, while Studies 3A and 3B display that the relationship is moderated by the presence of a charitable element. Interestingly, in the case with a charitable element, increasing the suggested price does not stimulate an increment in payments on a par with the case without a charitable element. This paper proposes that sellers who use PWYW could employ a suggested price to furnish buyers with pertinent cost information, but utilizing PWYW with a suggested price may not be suitable for products with a charitable component.

Whether and How Prepurchase Word of Mouth Affects Postpurchase Word of Mouth

Consumers often purchase new products based on online reviews and recommendations from both friends and strangers. Previous studies have extensively explored the effects of word of mouth (WOM) on the prepurchase stage, but little is known about whether WOM from friends or strangers can alter consumers’ postpurchase behavior. The authors propose that positive WOM from distant (vs. close) others increases consumers’ intention to share negative WOM when the product/service fails to perform to their satisfaction due to two distinctive motivations. First, consumers perceive that positive WOM from distant others might mislead more people, and, consequently, consumers expect their negative WOM to have a greater impact on helping others. Second, when receiving positive WOM from close others, they are less willing to publicly contradict the close others’ WOM even though they believe the WOM is misleading. Studies 1a and 1b demonstrate the main effect of interpersonal closeness on negative WOM intention, while Study 2 reveals the dual mediating effects of anticipated impact and relationship norm. Studies 3 and 4 validate these mechanisms by showing the moderating role of the self-construal level while ruling out the role of impression management. This research offers practical implications for WOM management across different social ties.

Can agentic messages help? Linguistic strategies to counteract voice-based sexual orientation discrimination.

Gay men who believe to sound 'gay' expect to be discriminated against because of their voices and gay-sounding men are discriminated against in the hiring process. We examined whether uttering an agency-based message decreased discrimination expectancy and enactment. In Study 1a (N = 256; gay and bisexual men) and Study 1b (N = 216; gay men), speakers uttered agentic (vs. neutral) messages. We assessed their self-perception as gay sounding, agency self-attribution and discrimination expectancy. Uttering agentic (vs. neutral) messages made the speakers self-perceive as more agentic and this decreased discrimination expectancy. Additionally, self-perception as gay sounding predicted discrimination expectancy. In Study 2 (N = 466), heterosexual participants listened to gay- and straight-sounding speakers uttering either neutral or agentic messages and rated them in terms of agency and employability. Gay-sounding speakers uttering agentic messages were less likely to be discriminated against than when uttering neutral messages. Results show the positive impact of linguistic strategies involving agentic messages to reduce discrimination expectancy and hiring biases.

Social evaluative implications of sensory adaptation to human voices.

People form social evaluations of others following brief exposure to their voices, and these impressions are calibrated based on recent perceptual experience. Participants adapted to voices with fundamental frequency (f o; the acoustic correlate of perceptual pitch) manipulated to be gender-typical (i.e. masculine men and feminine women) or gender-atypical (i.e. feminine men and masculine women) before evaluating unaltered test voices within the same sex. Adaptation resulted in contrastive aftereffects. Listening to gender-atypical voices caused female voices to sound more feminine and attractive (Study 1) and male voices to sound more masculine and attractive (Study 2). Studies 3a and 3b tested whether adaptation occurred on a conceptual or perceptual level, respectively. In Study 3a, perceivers adapted to gender-typical or gender-atypical voices for both men and women (i.e. adaptors pitch manipulated in opposite directions for men and women) before evaluating unaltered test voices. Findings showed weak evidence that evaluations differed between conditions. In Study 3b, perceivers adapted to masculinized or feminized voices for both men and women (i.e. adaptors pitch manipulated in the same direction for men and women) before evaluating unaltered test voices. In the feminized condition, participants rated male targets as more masculine and attractive. Conversely, in the masculinized condition, participants rated female targets as more feminine and attractive. Voices appear to be evaluated according to gender norms that are updated based on perceptual experience as well as conceptual knowledge.

How and when awe improves meaning in life: The role of authentic-self pursuit and trait authenticity.

Awe is theoretically proposed as a meaning-making emotion. However, empirical evidence has shown that awe has mixed effects on meaning in life. The explanations for such complicated results have been limited. To fill this gap, in this research, we aimed to clarify how and when awe contributes to meaning in life. In six studies (N = 1,115), we examined the indirect effect of awe on meaning in life through authentic-self pursuit as well as trait authenticity's moderating effect on this indirect effect. We consistently found a positive indirect effect of awe on meaning in life via authentic-self pursuit (Studies 1-3 and Study 5), which arised beyond happiness and self-smallness (Studies 2a, 2b, and 3) and also held for awe brought on by a threatening experience (Study 3). Moreover, we found that manipulating authentic-self pursuit improved meaning in life (Study 4). Importantly, the main effect of awe on meaning in life and indirect effect of awe on meaning in life through authentic-self pursuit were significant for those with low to average rather than high trait authenticity (Study 5). These findings facilitate the understanding of awe as a meaning-making emotion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Who should decide how limited healthcare resources are prioritized? Autonomous technology as a compelling alternative to humans.

Who should decide how limited resources are prioritized? We ask this question in a healthcare context where patients must be prioritized according to their need and where advances in autonomous artificial intelligence-based technology offer a compelling alternative to decisions by humans. Qualitative (Study 1a; N = 50) and quantitative (Study 1b; N = 800) analysis identified agency, emotional experience, bias-free, and error-free as four main qualities describing people's perceptions of autonomous computer programs (ACPs) and human staff members (HSMs). Yet, the qualities were not perceived to be possessed equally by HSMs and ACPs. HSMs were endorsed with human qualities of agency and emotional experience, whereas ACPs were perceived as more capable than HSMs of bias- and error-free decision-making. Consequently, better than average (Study 2; N = 371), or relatively better (Studies 3, N = 181; & 4, N = 378), ACP performance, especially on qualities characteristic of ACPs, was sufficient to reverse preferences to favor ACPs over HSMs as the decision makers for how limited healthcare resources should be prioritized. Our findings serve a practical purpose regarding potential barriers to public acceptance of technology, and have theoretical value for our understanding of perceptions of autonomous technologies.

A Novel, Network-Based Approach to Assessing Romantic-Relationship Quality.

How should romantic-relationship quality be approached psychometrically? This is a complicated theoretical and methodological challenge that we begin to address through three studies. In Study 1a, we identified 25 distinct romantic-relationship categories among 754 items from 26 romantic-relationship-quality instruments with a weak Jaccard index (0.38), indicating that the scales' item content was extremely heterogeneous. Study 1b then demonstrated limited structure validity evidence in 43 scale-development-validation articles of 23 of these 26 instruments. Finally, Study 2 surveyed 587 French-speaking participants in a romantic relationship on romantic-relationship quality. Applying a network-based model, we identified four dimensions, three of which are central to relationship quality. The inferences were mostly limited to French-speaking, monogamous, heterosexual women. To resolve challenges detected in the literature, we recommend a multicountry qualitative approach, more diverse sampling, better definitions of romantic-relationship quality, and a dynamic-systems approach to measuring romantic-relationship quality.

Prototypes of Hate and Expectations of the Model Victim.

This research explored the content of hate crime prototypes in a North American context, with particular attention to how such prototypes might influence blame attributions. In Study 1a, participants were recruited from a blended sample of universities (n = 110) and community members (n = 102) and asked to report their thoughts about typical hate crime offenses, victims, and offenders. These open-ended responses were coded, and common themes were identified. In Study 1b, a new group of participants (n = 290) were presented with these themes and asked to rate each for their characteristics of hate crimes. Studies 1a and 1b confirmed the presence of a clear prototype of hate crimes, such that (a) perpetrators were believed to be lower status White men with clear expressions of bias, (b) hate crime offenses were believed to be acts of interpersonal violence accompanied by slurs or verbal abuse, and (c) hate crime victims were thought to be members of a marginalized group who remain passive during the offense. Study 2 explored the consequences of victim prototypes on assessments of victim blame. Participants (n = 296) were recruited from York University and presented with a case vignette that varied the prototypicality of a victim of hate, depicting him as either Black or White and either passive, verbally responsive, or physically confrontational in the context of an assault. Participants showed greatest sympathy for the Black victim who passively ignored verbal harassment but increasingly assigned blame when the Black victim spoke or reacted physically. When the victim was White, participants showed little variation in their assessment of blame as a function of the victim's behavior. These results suggest that Black victims are subjected to greater behavioral scrutiny than White victims and that sympathy for victims of hate may be contingent on their passivity in the face of harassment.

The effects of awe on interpersonal forgiveness: the mediating role of small-self.

Awe could increase prosocial behavior, but little is known about its effects on interpersonal forgiveness. This study aims to explore the potential impact of awe on interpersonal forgiveness and the underlying mechanism of this process, using a combination of questionnaires, economic game and computational modeling. In Study 1, we utilized Trait Awe Scale (TAS) and Forgiveness Trait Scale (FTS) to examine the association between trait awe and trait forgiveness. In Study 2, we employed pre-screened video to induce awe, happy and neutral emotions, then evaluated the effects of induced awe on small-self and interpersonal forgiveness in hypothetical interpersonal offensive situations (Study 2a) and two economic interaction situations (Study 2b). Results from Study 1 indicate that there is a positive correlation between trait awe and trait forgiveness. Study 2 reveal that awe can enhance interpersonal forgiveness in both interpersonal conflict situations and economic interaction situations, and this effect is mediated by the sense of small-self elicited by awe. Overall, these findings contribute to our understanding of the potential impact of awe on interpersonal forgiveness and provide valuable insights into the mechanisms through which awe may influence forgiveness. Further research in this area could help to elucidate the potential applications of awe-based interventions in promoting forgiveness and positive social interactions.

Do conspiracy beliefs fuel support for reactionary social movements? Effects of misbeliefs on actions to oppose lockdown and to "stop the steal".

Pundits have speculated that the spread of conspiracies and misinformation (termed "misbeliefs") is leading to a resurgence of right-wing, reactionary movements. However, the current empirical picture regarding the relationship between misbeliefs and collective action is mixed. We help clarify these associations by using two waves of data collected during the COVID-19 Pandemic (in Australia, N = 519, and the United States, N = 510) and democratic elections (in New Zealand N = 603, and the United States N = 609) to examine the effects of misbeliefs on support for reactionary movements (e.g., anti-lockdown protests, Study 1; anti-election protests, Study 2). Results reveal that within-person changes in misbeliefs correlate positively with support for reactionary collective action both directly (Studies 1-2) and indirectly by shaping the legitimacy of the authority (Study 1b). The relationship between misbelief and legitimacy is, however, conditioned by the stance of the authority in question: the association is positive when authorities endorse misbeliefs (Study 1a) and negative when they do not (Study 1b). Thus, the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and action hinges upon the alignment of the content of the conspiracy and the goals of the collective action.

Being pressed for time leads to treating others as things: Exploring the relationships among time scarcity, agentic and communal orientation and objectification.

Time scarcity has become one of the most ubiquitous phenomena in daily life worldwide. Five studies (total valid N = 1332) examined whether time scarcity elicits people's agentic orientation and dampens their communal orientation, thus increasing the likelihood of objectification towards others. Results suggested that people who perceived time scarcity were more likely to exhibit objectification towards others regardless of whether time scarcity was measured (Studies 1 and 3) or manipulated using either a scenario (Study 2a) or a recall task (Studies 2b and 4). Furthermore, agentic and communal orientations mediated the link between time scarcity and objectification (Studies 3 and 4). Additionally, the current research provided a nuanced understanding of these effects by differentiating the people being objectified into acquaintances and close friends (Study 2b) and by taking into consideration the trait-level prosociality of participants (Study 4). Results suggested that the effect persisted when people interacted with others who were close to them, and it was also applicable to people who were highly prosocial by nature. Overall, our findings highlighted the serious interpersonal consequence of time scarcity and highlighted the crucial role of value orientation in understanding this effect.

Can't see the forest for the trees: Time poverty influences construal level and the moderating role of autonomous versus controlled motivation.

In today's fast-paced world, increasing numbers of individuals face time poverty, i.e., having too much to do and not enough time. The current research conducted six studies (total valid N = 1307) examining whether time poverty influences individuals' construal levels and the moderating role of individuals' motivations towards what they do. The results consistently suggest that time poverty leads individuals to adopt more concrete construal regardless of whether time poverty was measured (Study 1) or manipulated either by a scenario (Studies 2a, 3-5) or by a recall task (Study 2b). Concrete construal prioritizes the "how" over the "why" aspect of actions (Studies 1 and 2a) and emphasizes secondary rather than primary features of options (Studies 2b, 3-5). Meanwhile, the results supported the moderating role of motivations (Studies 3-5). Specifically, compared with those experiencing time poverty due to too many things they "have-to" do (controlled motivation), those experiencing time poverty because of too many things they "want-to" do (autonomous motivation) demonstrated weaker tendencies towards adopting concrete construal. Taken together, our findings contribute to the growing literature on how the chronic perception of time poverty shapes the way people feel, think and do.

Creating a psychosocial intervention combining growth mindset and implementation intentions (GMII) to reduce alcohol consumption: A mixed method approach.

This work aimed at creating a psychosocial intervention based on growth mindset theory and implementation intention strategies, in order to reduce alcohol consumption among users in the general population, and the clinical population of individuals with alcohol use disorder. A mixed method approach was used, combining qualitative and quantitative research methods among both populations. Four focus groups were first conducted to extract arguments in favor of a malleable view of alcohol consumption (study 1A), situations that trigger the desire to drink alcohol, as well as strategies used by people to counteract this need (study 1B). Data were analyzed using reflective thematic analysis in line with the scientific literature on alcohol consumption. The results were used to create a questionnaire scoring the relevance of each argument, situation and strategy (study 2). The 20 best scored arguments, situations and strategies were selected to create the intervention. The created intervention consisted in a popularized scientific article describing alcohol consumption as malleable, including the selected arguments and followed by two internalization exercises. Then, a volitional help sheet included the selected situations and solutions was presented, allowing forming up to three plans. The discussion focused on the added value of the created material compared to pre-existing tools in the literature, and presents plans to test the intervention in a future study.

Show me the destination or show me the tourist? Effect of image-based user-generated advertisement type on tourists’ destination interest

ABSTRACT This study investigated how image-based user-generated advertising (UGA) affects a tourist’s interest in travel destinations using self-referencing and mental imagery theories. Two studies with four experiments were conducted in this research. Study 1a and Study 1b aimed to explore the interaction effect of image type and public self-consciousness on tourist destination interest through the mediating role of mental imagery using different versions of UGA advertising stimuli. Study 2a and Study 2b further explored the moderating role of destination type on the interaction effect. Results found that a match between image type and public self-consciousness led to increased tourists’ interest in a destination. A three-way interaction was also observed: when the UGA is marketing a hedonic destination, participants with high public self-consciousness are more likely to respond to an image that includes a tourist, and when marketing a utilitarian destination, participants with low public self-consciousness are more inclined to respond favourably to an image only portraying a destination. Mental imagery plays a mediating role in the above mechanisms. The theoretical and managerial ramifications of these findings are presented for destination managers and tourism marketers.

Winter is coming: An investigation of vigilant leadership, antecedents, and outcomes.

Within the hierarchical taxonomy of effective leadership, change-oriented leadership stands as a distinct and meaningful metacategory, primarily focusing on promoting change by communicating a compelling vision for the future. However, we consider whether there might be room to broaden the scope of change-oriented leadership by examining more negative-focused leadership behaviors. In this article, we explore the concept of vigilant leadership, which we suggest could be a change-oriented and negative-focused leadership style, and investigate its usefulness as a new leadership construct. In Study 1, we take preliminary steps toward developing a measure of vigilant leadership, employing content adequacy assessment and item response theory analysis. Drawing on the integrative trait-behavioral model of leadership effectiveness (DeRue et al., 2011), we further explore how vigilant leadership is associated with an array of antecedents (i.e., leader characteristics) and leadership outcomes. In Studies 2a and 2b, we present initial findings that leaders high on consideration of future consequences, prevention focus, general self-efficacy, and emotional intelligence might be more inclined to exhibit vigilant leadership. In Study 3, our results suggest that, even after controlling for the effect of visionary leadership (a type of positive-focused change-oriented leadership), vigilant leadership is positively related to follower felt responsibility for change, proactivity, specific proactive work behaviors (taking charge, voice, and problem prevention), teamwork proactivity, and teamwork proficiency. However, it does not seem to relate to follower proficiency, follower adaptivity, teamwork adaptivity, organizational citizenship behavior, positive affect toward the leader, leader-member exchange, or relational identification with the leader. With these preliminary findings, we encourage further discussion and investigation into the potential implications of this emerging construct. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Does competitive action intensity influence team performance via leader bottom-line mentality? A social information processing perspective.

Leader bottom-line mentality (LBLM) exists when leaders solely focus on securing bottom-line outcomes to the exclusion of alternative considerations. Our research examines why leaders adopt LBLMs and the implications of this focused leadership strategy on team sales performance and pro-environmental behavior. Utilizing social information processing theory, we examine LBLM as a mediator and contend that competitive action intensity in the work environment provokes LBLM, which then signals to teams the importance of raising sales performance and reducing pro-environmental behavior. We also suggest that leader performance reward expectancy (i.e., perceptions that rewards are directly tied to high performance) serves as a first-stage moderator and team performance reward expectancy serves as a second-stage moderator, with higher (vs. lower) levels of each strengthening the indirect effects of competitive action intensity, through LBLM, onto team sales performance and pro-environmental behavior. Utilizing field data from a large pharmaceutical company (Study 1) as well as an experimental causal chain design (Studies 2a and 2b), we found support for our theoretical model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Transformative power of friendships: Examining the relationships among friendship quality, self‐change, and well‐being

AbstractFriendships are beneficial to a person's growth and well‐being. People in close relationships may experience four types of self‐change: self‐expansion, self‐pruning, self‐contraction, and self‐adulteration. The current cross‐sectional research sought to investigate whether these relational self‐change processes explain the links between friendship quality and well‐being in same‐sex best friendships. Study 1A (N = 187) adapted the Turkish Relational Self‐Change Scale to the friendship context and confirmed its psychometric adequacy in addressing friendship‐based self‐changes in Türkiye. Study 1B (N = 306) examined the links between different friendship functions and relational self‐changes, as well as whether relational self‐changes explain the link between friendship quality and ontological well‐being. Among the specific friendship functions, stimulating companionship and self‐validation were related to self‐expansion and self‐pruning, whereas reliable alliance was related to self‐contraction and self‐adulteration. Self‐adulteration also indirectly explained the relationship between friendship quality and ontological well‐being. Study 2 (N = 204) revealed that only self‐pruning explained the link between perceived friend responsiveness and overall well‐being. The contributions of friendships to self‐change and personal well‐being were discussed in light of the findings.