Antonio Pierro

• Professor (Full) at Sapienza University of Rome

We offer a novel motivational account of romantic love, which portrays it as a means to the end of feeling significant and worthy. According to the model, falling in love with a partner depends on the actor's perceptions that (1) the partner possesses meritorious characteristics, and (2) that they appreciate the actor and view them as significant....

We offer a novel motivational account of romantic love, which portrays it as a means to the end of feeling significant and worthy. From that perspective, we present a multiplicative tri-factor model whereby a partner’s perceived merits and their appreciation of the actor combine with the actor’s magnitude of significance quest to determine the like...

The coronavirus pandemic posed a major challenge to mental health. Existing evidence shows that COVID-19 is related to poor emotional well-being, particularly among women. However, most work on the subject uses single-country samples, limiting the ability to generalize the disparity or explain it as a function of societal variables. The present stu...

The present paper builds on previous research exploring the relationship between the need for cognitive closure (NCC) and employees’ compliance with harsh social power to propose a moderating role of perceived tightness within a work unit in organizational settings. Specifically, the study aimed to test the cross-level interaction between NCC and t...

Drawing on the model of affective reactions to outcome uncertainty, we derived, across two studies, a systematic analysis to predict conditions under which people have positive or negative affective reactions to outcome uncertainty (i.e., uncertainty as to whether the situation will afford positive or negative outcomes). More specifically, Study 1...

Drawing on significance quest theory and its derived model of romantic relationships, we demonstrated that perceiving romantic partners as having socially valued qualities (partners’ merit) and as admiring and caring (partners’ appreciation) enhanced actors’ significance gained through the romantic relationship which, in turn, increased the likelih...

The present article describes and provides empirical support for a novel theory of affective reactions to uncertain situations, from which we derive five interrelated hypotheses. The theory holds that people's past experiences, both long-and short-term, inform their expectations for future outcomes, particularly when the specific outcomes in a situ...

Building on Significance Quest Theory we hypothesized that significance loss feelings can bring people to extreme self-care related behaviors via (a) the susceptibility to interpersonal influence, and (b) the development of a predominance of obsessive (vs. harmonious) passion toward the self-care. To test these hypotheses, we ran one cross-sectiona...

Why do people have positive or indifferent reactions to norm violations? The present research hypothesized that individuals who focus on the avoidance of negative outcomes, for example punishments for rule violations, (i.e., a prevention focus) are hypothesized to also have a desire for rigid and clear norms (i.e., desired cultural tightness) as we...

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a shift toward a more traditional division of labor–one where women took greater responsibility for household tasks and childcare than men. We tested whether this regressive shift was more acutely perceived and experienced by women in countries with greater gender equality. Cross-cultural longitudinal survey d...

This research investigated the relation between the need for cognitive closure (i.e., a desire for epistemic certainty) and attitudes toward women as managers among men and women. In a cross-sectional study (total N = 241) collected in Italy, we found that need for cognitive closure, controlling for participants’ gender, was related to having more...

This research investigated the relation between motivation to avoid uncertainty, as reflected in the need for cognitive closure, implicit theories about the malleability of human a ributes, and a itudes toward women as leaders vs. followers. In a cross-sectional study (N = 470) conducted in Italy, we hypothesized and found that the need for cogniti...

This research investigated the relation between the need for cognitive closure, social dominance orientation, and attitudes toward women as managers within a sample of Italian workers (N = 391) enrolled in a cross-sectional study. More specifically, we hypothesized and found that the association between need for cognitive closure and prejudice towa...

Virus mitigation behavior has been and still is a powerful means to fight the COVID-19 pandemic irrespective of the availability of pharmaceutical means (e.g., vaccines). We drew on health behavior theories to predict health-protective (coping-specific) responses and hope (coping non-specific response) from health-related cognitions (vulnerability,...

Our study found that individuals' environmental concerns are positively associated with their pro‐environmental behavioural intentions through increased desired cultural tightness and reduced moral disengagement. Based on past research on (a) the positive association between personal concerns for ecological threats and desire for strong rules and p...

The present research utilizes an evolutionary framework to investigate the process underlying the recent rise of several populist, “strongmen” leaders. Specifically, we propose that when people experience contingent (i.e., impending) ecological threats, their need for cognitive closure is activated, making them desire strong rules (i.e., a tight so...

In line with Significance Quest Theory (SQT, Kruglanski et al., 2022) and Costly Signaling Theory (CST, Zahavi, 1995), the present research aims to investigate the relationship between individual differences in ambition and support for costly (in terms of investment of personal resources) aid programs. Consistent with SQT, which holds that the ques...

In line with the seminal ideas on the “ prejudice-prone personality ” provided by Allport (1954) in the book The Nature of Prejudice, various studies have highlighted the association between individuals’ high need for cognitive closure (NCC) and prejudice towards various outgroups. Nonetheless, evidence on the invariance of individuals’ prejudice t...

Conceptualizing aggression as elicited by the significance‐reducing effects of frustration, and ambition as reflecting the quest for significance, we tested the role of ambition in the frustration–aggression relationship. Study 1 ( N = 249) found that ambitious individuals are more sensitive to significance‐threatening frustration. Study 2 ( N = 41...

Drawing on Significance Quest Theory, we hypothesized that when people experience a loss of significance related to a specific life domain, they will aim to restore their significance by acting in an extreme manner in a different life domain. To test this hypothesis, we ran two cross-sectional studies using samples of employed people in romantic re...

Ambitious people are characterized by strong motivation toward great and valuable objectives, with the superordinate goal to gain respect and recognition from others. Recent literature regarding ambition demonstrated that it leads individuals to engage in extreme behavior. However, no previous research has investigated under which conditions the re...

One of the oldest scientific theories of human aggression is the frustration-aggression hypothesis, advanced in 1939. Although this theory has received considerable empirical support and is alive and well today, its underlying mechanisms have not been adequately explored. In this article, we examine major findings and concepts from extant psycholog...

Drawing on significance quest theory, we hypothesized that when people in romantic relationships experience a general feeling of significance loss, they should develop an obsessive passion toward their partner, which in turn should enhance their willingness to act in an extreme manner to maintain their relationship (i.e., their remaining source of...

Some public officials have expressed concern that policies mandating collective public health behaviors (e.g., national/regional “lockdown”) may result in behavioral fatigue that ultimately renders such policies ineffective. Boredom, specifically, has been singled out as one potential risk factor for noncompliance. We examined whether there was emp...

This study aimed to investigate how some specific cultural and personal factors can influence people’s life satisfaction. By embracing an interactionist perspective, we hypothesized that perceiving one’s social environment as culturally tight (greater strength of social norms) can “match” with regulatory prevention focus (focus on safety following...

The link between threat and anti-immigrant prejudice is well-established. Relatedly, recent research has also shown that situational threats (such as concern with COVID-19 threat) increase anti-immigrant prejudice through the mediating role of desire for cultural tightness. This study aims to further our understanding of the psychological processes...

In recent decades, a new line of research has found associations between specific individual differences with prejudice against female leaders. In three studies collected in Italy with heterogeneous samples (Total N = 391), we investigated the relationship between self-reported need for cognitive closure (NCC) and attitudes towards women as manager...

Tightness–Looseness (T-L) at the individual level has only begun to receive attention from researchers. Specifically in the organizational context, this is a so far unexplored construct. The study offers first insights into the mechanisms that can trigger individuals’ desire for tightness and the consequences it can have on organizational behaviors...

This research investigated the relationship between individual preference for the need for cognitive closure (NCC) and attitudes towards women as managers and the moderating role of direct or imagined contact with women leaders. In two studies (total N = 369) collected in different countries and with different methods (Study 1: Italy, correlational...

Extremism occurs when a certain need, for instance, significance quest, overrides other human motivations. Based on the Significance Quest Theory, we argue that ambition—a specific aspect of significance quest—can lead to extremism, particularly through obsessive passion. In an Italian sample (Study 1, N = 249) we predicted and found that ambition...

Anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and home confinement has been associated with adverse health behaviors, such as unhealthy eating, smoking, and drinking. However, most studies have been limited by regional sampling, which precludes the examination of behavioral consequences associated with the pandemic at a global level. Further, few s...

This research investigated the motivational underpinnings of attitudes toward weapon ownership. We propose that people who have a strong need for closure (NFC) would be more likely to approve of weapon ownership, but that this relationship would be serially mediated by the endorsement of binding moral foundations and fear of immigrants. Specificall...

People vary on their desire for strict norms, and the moral underpinnings of these differences have yet to be explored. The current research examined whether and how moral beliefs held by individuals would affect the extent to which they want their country to be tight (i.e., having strict social norms) or loose (i.e., having more permissive social...

The present paper examines longitudinally how subjective perceptions about COVID-19, one’s community, and the government predict adherence to public health measures to reduce the spread of the virus. Using an international survey ( N = 3040), we test how infection risk perception, trust in the governmental response and communications about COVID-19...

Before vaccines for COVID-19 became available, a set of infection prevention behaviors constituted the primary means to mitigate the virus spread. Our study aimed to identify important predictors of this set of behaviors. Whereas social and health psychological theories suggest a limited set of predictors, machine learning analyses can identify cor...

Anxiety associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and home confinement has been associated with adverse health behaviors, such as unhealthy eating, smoking, and drinking. However, most studies have been limited by regional sampling, which precludes the examination of behavioral consequences associated with the pandemic at a global level. Further, few s...

The COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis that requires individuals to comply with many health-protective behaviors. Following the previous literature, cultural tightness has been found to be a key mechanism to increase coordination in order to mitigate collective threats (e.g., COVID-19). In this study, we test a moderated mediation model to examin...

Even though the motivation to feel worthy, to be respected, and to matter to others has been identified for centuries by scholars, the antecedents, consequences, and conditions of its activation have not been systematically analyzed or integrated. The purpose of this article is to offer such an integration. We feature a motivational construct, the...

Understanding the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine uptake is important to inform policy decisions and plan vaccination campaigns. The aims of this research were to: (1) explore the individual- and country-level determinants of intentions to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, and (2) examine worldwide variation in vaccination intentions. This cross-s...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256740.].

New members are important sources of innovative perspectives in groups. However, it can be very difficult for newcomers’ ideas to be heard. It is likely that group members with high (vs. low) levels of need for closure (NFC) are more resistant to newcomers’ innovative ideas. Moreover, when group epistemic authority (EA) is high, members should “fre...

We propose a new theoretical model depicting the compensatory relations between personal agency and social assistance. It suggests two general hypotheses, namely that (1) the stronger the individuals’ sense of personal agency, the weaker their motivation to utilize social assistance and the greater their consequent tendency to develop anti-social a...

Tightening social norms is thought to be adaptive for dealing with collective threat yet it may have negative consequences for increasing prejudice. The present research investigated the role of desire for cultural tightness, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, in increasing negative attitudes towards immigrants. We used participant-level data from...

Previous research on the need for cognitive closure (NFC), or the desire for epistemic certainty, has consistently found that it is associated with negative attitudes toward immigrants, among other outgroups, potentially because they represent agents of change and/or due to a general preference for perceived stability and certainty associated with...

Although personal resources support adjustment during hard times at work, social resources can have comparable influence in preventing the negative impact of adverse circumstances (Hobfoll 2001, 2002). This study investigates the contribution of both individual and group level positivity, a personal resource, in perceived intragroup conflict. Data...

During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. conservative politicians and the media downplayed the risk of both contracting COVID-19 and the effectiveness of recommended health behaviors. Health behavior theories suggest perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors dete...

During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. conservative politicians and the media downplayed the risk of both contracting COVID-19 and the effectiveness of recommended health behaviors. Health behavior theories suggest perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors dete...

When ecological threats are more severe or prevalent, societies are more likely to tighten their social norms and punishments. Moreover, when people follow clear and tight rules, they are more prone to regulate their behavior (i.e., self-control) in order to avoid punishment. Therefore, we examined the mediating role of people’s endorsement of cult...

The main goal of the present study was to analyse the effects of regulatory modes (i.e., assessment and locomotion) on both positivity and job satisfaction. Furthermore, we explored the mediating role of positivity in the relationship between regulatory modes and job satisfaction. In order to test our hypotheses, we recruited employees (N = 563) fr...

This paper makes a case for explaining diversity effects through cognitive factors as compared to demographic or other differences in backgrounds. We argue that studying perceived diversity in conjunction with diversity beliefs can explain positive and negative effects through a motivated opening or closing of the mind (Need for Cognitive Closure,...

Researchers have spent the past five decades asking why women leaders face disproportionally more disapproval than their men colleagues. We extend recent research by investigating the need for cognitive closure (NCC), or the desire for stable and certain knowledge, to help answer this question. Consistent with Role Congruity Theory, we propose that...

Women are harmed by stereotypes about their fit for positions of authority and changing these stereotypes is not a simple task. As stereotypes have strong epistemic properties, individuals with a high need for cognitive closure (NCC; i.e., the desire for epistemic certainty) can be more likely to accept these stereotypes and, consequently, to prefe...

Positivity (i.e., the individual tendency to positively approach life experiences) has proven to be an effective construct applied in positive psychology. However, individuals’ self-regulation may have contrasting effects on positivity. We specifically examined whether positivity could be partially explained through two aspects of motivation concer...

Doping use is considered as a deviant behavior in sport contexts, and it is necessary to recognize preventive factors to shut down the negative consequences. We proposed that athletes experiencing loss of personal significance would be more prone to doping use intentions. This pathway should occur through the effect of the enhanced predominance of...

This paper examines whether compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures is motivated by wanting to save lives or save the economy (or both), and which implications this carries to fight the pandemic. National representative samples were collected from 24 countries (N = 25,435). The main predictors were (1) perceived risk to contract coronavirus, (...

We propose a new theoretical model depicting the compensatory relations between personal agency and social assistance. It suggests two general hypotheses, namely that (1) the stronger the individuals’ sense of personal agency, the weaker their motivation to utilize social assistance and the greater their consequent tendency to develop anti-social a...

This research investigates the epistemic underpinnings of changes of opinion and choices. Based on the Lay Epistemic Theory (Kruglanski et al., 2009) and consistent with relevant theories of persuasion (e.g., Chaiken, Liberman, & Eagly, 1989; Kruglanski, & Thompson, 1999; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986), we hypothesized that individuals with a high (vs. lo...

The present research addresses the unique role of locomotion and assessment regulatory-mode orientations on self-forgiveness, by controlling for personality traits and by excluding possible effects of variables linked to strategies that underestimate one’s culpability. In three studies (Total N = 471) we found that assessment obstructs, while locom...

The present paper explored the idea that forgiveness of others may be related with the victims’ individual differences in three motivational factors, as described in the regulatory mode theory (Higgins et al. 2003) and in the need for cognitive closure theory (Kruglanski 2004): (1) individuals’ tendencies towards psychological motion (as captured i...

The Coronavirus is highly infectious and potentially deadly. In the absence of a cure or a vaccine, the infection prevention behaviors recommended by the World Health Organization constitute the only measure that is presently available to combat the pandemic. The unprecedented impact of this pandemic calls for swift identification of factors most i...

In this work, we study how social contacts and feelings of solidarity shape experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. We draw on cross-national data, collected across four time points between mid-March until early May 2020. We situate our work within the public debate on these issues and discuss to what extent the public...

According to health behavior theories, perceived vulnerability to a health threat and perceived effectiveness of recommended health-protective behaviors determine motivation to follow these recommendations. Because the U.S. President Trump and U.S. conservative politicians downplayed the risk and seriousness of contracting COVID-19 and the effectiv...

The PsyCorona collaboration is a research project to examine processes involved in the COVID-19 pandemic, such as behavior that curbs virus transmission, which may implicate social norms, cooperation, and self-regulation. The study also examines psychosocial consequences of physical distancing strategies and societal lockdown, such as frustration o...

We present a psychological model of extremism based on the concept of motivational imbalance whereby a given need gains dominance and overrides other basic concerns. In contrast, moderation results from a motivational balance wherein individuals’ different needs are equitably attended to. Importantly, under moderation the different needs constrain...

Individuals who have a strong locomotion orientation tend to be future-oriented and motivated to move from the present state toward a future state, making swift and steady progress toward their goals. The current study has assessed the conceptual possibility that such motivation leads locomotors to experience greater hopeful thinking, an active cog...

Mapping the Moods of COVID-19: Global Study Uses Data Visualization to Track Psychological Responses, Identify Targets for Intervention

This paper examines whether compliance with COVID-19 mitigation measures is motivated by wanting to save lives or save the economy (or both), and which implications this carries to fight the pandemic. National representative samples were collected from 24 countries (N=25,435). The main predictors were (i) perceived risk to contract coronavirus, (ii...

The present research aimed at expanding Pierro, Kruglanski, and Raven’s work examining the interweaving between the need for closure (NFC; the desire to form quick and unambiguous knowledge) and the Interpersonal Power Interaction model. In particular, this study explored the idea that the greater compliance to harsh power tactics of subordinates’...

We examined, in different work organizations, how subordinates high in social dominance orientation (SDO; individual desire to sustain group-based hierarchies) and in need for cognitive closure (NFCC, an individual’s epistemic motivation to avoid uncertainty) comply with harsh power tactics as means to sustain asymmetrical intergroup relationships....

Why do some people help others in need, and some do not? One potential answer is sympathy, which reflects an other-focused desire to help others in need. Consequentially, we posit that sympathy toward a specific target joined with the attainability of successful helping forms a helping goal. In three experiments we found that helping behavior was h...

Although sympathy is a powerful other‐focused motivation, not all individuals will experience sympathy when it is appropriate. Immigrants, as a disadvantaged out‐group, are especially in need of sympathy and, given the tensions of the immigration debate, are at‐risk for low sympathy. Indeed, past research has found that sympathy is less likely to b...

We present an experiment showing that need for closure (NFC)—defined as the epistemic desire for certainty—can moderate individuals' affective reactions to cognitive inconsistency. Informed by Kruglanski and colleagues' new theory, that cognitive inconsistency elicits negative affect particularly under certain circumstances, we find that NFC (i.e....

In Study 1 (N = 164), we found that dispositional need for closure was indirectly and negatively associated with collective action intentions in favor of immigrants, sequentially mediated first through binding moral foundations and then political conservatism. In Study 2 (N = 180), we found that dispositional need for closure was indirectly and neg...

The present study examined the asymmetry hypothesis of social dominance theory (SDT) in a work organization. The asymmetry hypothesis posits that members of subordinate groups who are high in social dominance orientation (SDO; desire for group-based hierarchy) can contribute to maintaining hierarchies by conforming with hierarchy-enhancing legitimi...

Why are people (de)motivated to mobilize in favor of immigrants? Addressing this question, we investigated the role of individuals' epistemic motivation (i.e., need for closure) in influencing the process of becoming motivated to participate in collective action in favor of immigrants in Italy. Specifically, the mediational role of binding moral fo...

A field study conducted with professional athletes (N = 420, 72.2% men, Mage = 25.14) examined the antecedents of stress linked to career termination. We hypothesized that stress linked to career termination may be affected by the type of passion (harmonious and obsessive) athletes develop for their sport activity, and that this passion may be affe...

Social dominance theory (SDT; Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) hypothesizes that members of subordinate groups who are higher on social dominance orientation (SDO; desire for maintaining status hierarchies) coordinate with dominant ones in maintaining asymmetrical relationships. The present research tests this hypothesis in a higher education setting by ex...

Women leaders in the workforce are adversely affected by two sets of stereotypes: women are warm and communal but leaders are assertive and competent. This mismatch of stereotypes can lead to negative attitudes toward women leaders, however, not all individuals will be equally sensitive to these stereotypes. Men and women characterized by a need fo...

Can social gaze behavior reveal the leader during real-world group interactions? To answer this question, we developed a novel tripartite approach combining (1) computer vision methods for remote gaze estimation, (2) a detailed taxonomy to encode the implicit semantics of multi-party gaze features, and (3) machine learning methods to establish depe...

Why do people have anti-immigrant attitudes? We proposed that individuals’ need for cognitive closure—an epistemic motivation associated with an aversion to change in established environments—is predictive of a dislike of immigrants through increased binding to powerful groups. In four studies, collected in both Italy (Study 1) and the United State...

Regulatory mode theory (Kruglanski et al., 2000) assumes the existence of two regulatory modes orientation: (1) assessment reflecting the propensity to evaluate goals and means and to find the best option; (2) locomotion concerning the tendency to move from a state to another. A relevant number of studies has examined the relationship between regul...

Prior research has shown that the combination of assessment and locomotion regulatory modes leads to the best performance-related outcomes. The aim of the current study was to analyse how familiarity and complexity moderate this relationship between the two regulatory modes and job performance. Participants’ locomotion and assessment tendencies wer...

Recalling information from a particular category can reduce one’s memory capability for related, non-retrieved information. This is known as the retrieval-induced forgetting effect (RIF; Anderson et al., 1994). The present paper reviews studies that show that the RIF effect is motivated. More specifically, we describe research showing that the need...

From the 1950s onward, psychologists have generally assumed that people possess a general need for cognitive consistency whose frustration by an inconsistency elicits negative affect. We offer a novel perspective on this issue by introducing the distinction between epistemic and motivational impact of consistent and inconsistent cognitions. The epi...

A unique advantage of Psychological Inquiry’s format is that it encourages a free exchange of ideas allowing authors to “drill down” on points of disagreement and clarify possible misunderstandings. This is particularly helpful where an article asks its readers, as we do here, to revisit fundamental assumptions and reconsider widely accepted views....

Research on moral foundations theory has found that liberals typically favor the individualizing foundations (i.e., concern for the individual) but typically oppose the binding foundations (i.e., concern for the group). We propose that need for cognitive closure (NFC) can explain when liberals will favor the binding foundations. In two studies, we...

L’orientamento alla dominanza sociale (SDO) è stato definito come il desiderio personale di supporto alle gerarchie intergruppi. Il bisogno di chiusura cognitiva (BCC) è definito come una motivazione individuale ad evitare l’incertezza preferendo una stabile e ben precisata conoscenza del mondo. Aiello, Tesi, Pratto, & Pierro (2018) hanno messo in...

Past research has shown that hopelessness drastically reduces the quality of life. It follows that it could be particularly useful to improve our knowledge of the potential correlates of feelings of hopelessness. We propose a negative association between locomotion mode, or the self‐regulation dimension concerned with movement from current state to...

Social Dominance Theory (SDT) posits that high-power groups often push to maintain their dominant position and that low-power groups sometimes act in self-debilitating ways, and these complementary actions contribute to the same result: the maintenance of stable group hierarchies. We incorporated the Interpersonal Power Interaction Model (IPIM; Rav...

The present research addressed the question of whether need for closure (NFC; Kruglanski in The psychology of closed mindedness, Psychology Press, New York, 2004) biases individuals’ memory of female leaders. Merging research on role congruity theory of leadership (Koenig et al. in Psychol Bull 4:616–642, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023557) and...

The present research addresses the question of whether regulatory-mode orientations affect self-forgiveness. We expected that people with a strong locomotion orientation would be more inclined to self-forgiveness because of their tendencies toward movement and change, which focus them on the future, whereas people with a strong assessment orientati...