Jason Martens

Capilano University · Department of Psychology

Displaying nonverbal pride after a boxing match leads to judgements of success. However, it is not clear the extent to which this effect generalises nor whether it can override competing information. An experimental design had 214 participants watch two boxing clips that were manipulated so that one was evenly matched and the other had a fighter wi...

Religious areas were predicted to be negatively associated with COVID-19 vaccinations. Using public data on religion and vaccination rates within local authorities in England, support for the hypothesis was found. All major religious groups within England (i.e., Christianity, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and “other” religious groups) were...

At the completion of martial arts competitions (e.g., boxing) between two competitors, both competitors are often observed raising their hands in victory, ostensibly to influence the judges’ decision on who won the fight. Previous research suggests that nonverbal pride is spontaneously displayed after success, including after martial arts competiti...

Previous work suggests that people have a need for meaning, and that when meaning is threatened, efforts are undertaken to restore a sense of meaning. We hypothesized that a meaning threat (i.e., reminders of death) would increase victim blaming of a domestic violence victim since doing so can restore a sense of meaning-that people get what they de...

Vaccine hesitancy has taken global prominence with the rapid spread of COVID-19, but what factors are related to this considerable variation in vaccination rates globally? Three studies that encompass 195 unique regions from around the world found that the relative spirituality and religiosity of a region predict ongoing COVID-19 vaccination rates,...

Historical cultural practices that no longer exist can have modern day effects. Because communism has been linked with distrust of government, it was hypothesized that (a) historical communism would be negatively associated with COVID-19 vaccination rates, and (b) trust in government would mediate the association. Two studies assessed these hypothe...

Efforts to understand and remedy the rejection of science are impeded by lack of insight into how it varies in degree and in kind around the world. The current work investigates science skepticism in 24 countries ( N = 5,973). Results show that while some countries stand out as generally high or low in skepticism, predictors of science skepticism a...

Little research exists on how partners of sex offenders are perceived. Using attachment theory, we hypothesised that one's attachment would generalise to perceptions of sexual offenders and their partners. One hundred and six British adults’ attachment styles were assessed, as well as perceptions of sex offenders and their partners. Generally, perc...

Theories, models, and effects are related constructs that students often struggle to distinguish. However, these are important psychological tools, and by understanding them and their functions, students will better be able to apply them to psychological phenomena and broaden their depth of knowledge of the field. This article reviews the basic dis...

The Meaning Maintenance Model posits that individuals seek to resolve uncertainty by searching for patterns in the environment, yet little is known about how this is accomplished. Four studies investigated whether uncertainty has an effect on people’s cognitive functioning. In particular, we investigated whether meaning threats lead to increased wo...

Non-verbal expressions of pride convey status. But pride displays can be interpreted as either authentic or hubristic. Given negative stereotypes about Blacks, we hypothesized that when displaying pride, Blacks would be rated higher in hubristic and lower in authentic pride compared to Whites. Contrary to predictions, three experiments found consis...

The use of counterintuitive findings in the classroom has the benefit of being memorable to students. However, there might be other benefits to using counterintuitive examples in the classroom. The Meaning Maintenance Model (Heine, Proulx, & Vohs, 2006) suggests that counterintuitive phenomena, or phenomenon that violate our expectations, lead to a...

A relatively large body of research on pride has emerged in the past decade; these studies suggest that pride is a fundamental emotion in the biological and evolutionary sense, and in the social and interpersonal sense. It plays a major role in interpersonal and, in all likelihood, intergroup functioning, and, importantly, also shapes each individu...

Humans learn, in large part, by copying knowledgeable others. However, because others can be deceitful or lack competence, indiscriminate copying would be maladaptive. How then do individuals determine which social group members have knowledge that should be copied? We argue that the pride nonverbal expression may signal expertise, and thus bias le...

We propose a model that explores the consequences of justice failure. We conceptualize justice failure as a threat to meaning and suggest belief in a just world and justice climate as two moderators for the proposed relationship. We propose that individuals react to justice failure by engaging in fluid compensation and that third parties are more l...

A growing body of research suggests that pride and shame are associated with distinct, cross-culturally recognised nonverbal expressions, which are spontaneously displayed in situations of success and failure, respectively. Here, we review these findings, then offer a theoretical account of the adaptive benefits of these displays. We argue that bot...

In this emotion-centered account, we emphasize the importance of shame and hubristic pride in fueling the cognitive and behavioral dynamics that characterize grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Our focus on specific self-conscious emotions helps clarify distinctions between narcissism and self-esteem, provides insights to narcissism's evolutionary...

Supplementary Analyses. (DOC)

Passage Used as Stimulus in Study 4. (DOC)

Passages Used as Stimuli in Studies 1, 2, 4, and 5. (DOC)

Passages Used as Stimuli in Study 3. (DOC)

The present research examined the psychological motives underlying widespread support for intelligent design theory (IDT), a purportedly scientific theory that lacks any scientific evidence; and antagonism toward evolutionary theory (ET), a theory supported by a large body of scientific evidence. We tested whether these attitudes are influenced by...