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The role of values in coping with health and economic threats of COVID-19
Abstract
The current research examined the role of values in guiding people’s responses to COVID-19. Results from an international study involving 115 countries (N = 61,490) suggest that health and economic threats of COVID-19 evoke different values, with implications for controlling and coping with the pandemic. Specifically, health threats predicted prioritization of communal values related to caring for others and belonging, whereas economic threats predicted prioritization of agentic values focused on competition and achievement. Concurrently and over time, prioritizing communal values over agentic values was associated with enactment of prevention behaviors that reduce virus transmission, motivations to help others suffering from the pandemic, and positive attitudes toward outgroup members. These results, which were generally consistent across individual and national levels of analysis, suggest that COVID-19 threats may indirectly shape important responses to the pandemic through their influence on people’s prioritization of communion and agency. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
... Since there were several negative economic influences related to COVID-19, it is important to understand whether experiencing economic hardship as a result of the pandemic relates to changes in preventative behaviors. Lemay and colleagues [18] examined the role of health and economic threats in relation to COVID-19. Participants experiencing health threats related to COVID-19 were more likely to respond with increased communal values, leading to preventative behaviors. ...
... This research suggests that experiencing economic threats resulted in more individualistic and achievement-focused goals and less communal and public health-related goals. On the other hand, participants experiencing more health-related threats were more likely to engage in communal and public-health related goals [18]. This explanation is also consistent with the current findings related to fear of COVID-19, as those reporting more fear (health-related threats) were more likely to exhibit preventative behaviors and were also more likely to be vaccinated. ...
As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, various preventative behaviors and eventually vaccinations became available to decrease the spread of the virus. The current study examined a variety of variables (i.e., age, COVID-19-related economic hardship, interpersonal concern, personality, fear of COVID-19, normative beliefs, political beliefs, and vaccine hesitancy) to better understand predictors of preventative behaviors and vaccination status at different points throughout the pandemic. Online questionnaires, administered through Qualtrics, were used to collect data using two convenience samples. One was a small sample (N = 44) of non-student participants before the vaccine was readily available. The other sample (N = 274) included college student participants and occurred after the vaccine had been available to all participants. Results suggest that several variables (i.e., fear of COVID-19, normative beliefs, interpersonal concern, and openness) were consistent predictors of public health behaviors at both points in time and across differently aged samples. Other variables (i.e., agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, and economic hardship) were less consistent with their relationships with public health behaviors. Implications related to both research and public health are discussed.
... However, it has been suggested that alternative threat appraisals of COVID-19 have greater longevity beyond the initial health risk posed by it (Politi et al., 2021). Some of these alternative threat appraisals include how COVID-19 poses a threat to economic conditions, social harmony, the perceived legitimacy of politicians, and the satisfaction of psychological needs (Bonotti & Zech, 2021;Lemay et al., 2021;Politi et al., 2021). As such, future studies may wish to expand on the present research by testing how COVID-19 relates to intergroup attitudes when it is appraised as a symbolic, political, or economic threat, and discern each of their unique mechanisms in contributing to expressions of prejudice. ...
This study examined when the realistic threat of COVID-19 leads to prejudicial social distancing. American participants reported social distancing preferences from Chinese or Italian people (out-group target) after viewing increasing or decreasing COVID-19 case numbers (threat level) in China or Italy (threat relevance). On the Bogardus Social Distance Scale, there was support for a disease avoidance hypothesis: greater social distancing preferences were expressed under higher than under lower relevant threats. Responses on a bespoke COVID-19 Social Distance Scale, however, supported an a priori prejudice hypothesis: greater social distancing preferences were expressed toward a Chinese than toward an Italian out-group. Moreover, responses on a separate bespoke Modern Social Distance Scale supported a complex prejudice hypothesis: greater social distancing preferences were expressed toward Chinese than toward Italian out-groups under higher than under lower threat, regardless of threat relevance. These findings suggest that the threat of COVID-19 may enable prejudice expression accompanied by the rationale of disease avoidance.
... The COVID-19 pandemic forced people worldwide and indeed the urban poor in Bangladesh to devise varied coping measures, even unprecedented ones (Lemay et al. 2021;Ruszczyk et al. 2021). The most common coping mechanisms of reducing food intake and purchasing spoiled food are detrimental to health, but some hold promise. ...
While supporting the livelihoods of most of the developing world’s urban poor, the informal sector also deprives them of basic services and social protection. Rendered vulnerable to socioeconomic threats, people in the urban informal sector have suffered disproportionately during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and face a highly uncertain future.
Informal Services in Asian Cities explores informality’s forms and constraints. It describes the pandemic’s effects on the informal sector and how leveraging informal services can enable urban resilience. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, the book illustrates the transformative potential of urban planning and governance that addresses informality. It also details measures that could boost the informal sector’s inclusive and sustainable growth potential.
The over and misuse of antimicrobials in animal agriculture causes a prevailing crisis for humans, animals, and the environment. From the One Health approach perspective, the formation process of adopting prudent antimicrobial use (AMU), once established, can be used to mitigate this crisis. The study aimed to determine the analytic-based and heuristic-based process that evoked prudent AMU among animal farmers by synthesis of stimulus-organism-response framework and dual-system theory and to explore gender differences on risk-benefit trade-offs. A structural equation model was employed to test the proposed hypotheses with field survey data from 1100 small-scale farmers. The results reveal that for the analytic-based process, social influence, antimicrobial-related threats, and self-efficacy are all salient stimuli having indirect effects on intention via the two organisms of perceived risks and perceived benefits. For heuristic-based process, farmers' altruistic value orientations are positively associated with intention. An interesting fact is that threat awareness has two opposite effects on intention, namely, the suppression effect and the enhancement effect. Moreover, the negative effect of perceived risks on intention is greater among female farmers, compared to male counterparts. These findings provide valuable insights for the forming of theory-based intervention strategies to perfect China's national action plan.
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Prosociality is often considered as quintessential in coping with the threats of health emergencies. As previous research has suggested, prosocial behaviors are shaped by both dispositional factors and situational cues about the helping situation. In the present research, we investigated whether "bonding" types of prosociality, helping directed towards close others within one's social network, and "bridging" types of prosociality, helping directed towards vulnerable people across group boundaries, are predicted by basic individual values and threat appraisals concerning COVID-19. During the pandemic, we conducted a cross-sectional study in the US and India (Ntotal = 954), using the Schwartz value inventory and a multifaceted measure of threat assessment to predict prosocial helping intentions. After controlling for other value and threat facets, self-transcendence values and threat for vulnerable groups uniquely predicted both bonding and bridging types of prosociality. Furthermore, threat for vulnerable groups partially mediated the effect of self-transcendence on prosocial helping intentions: People who endorsed self-transcendent values were particularly concerned by the effect of the pandemic on vulnerable groups, and thus willing to engage in prosocial behaviours to help those in need. Our findings support the idea that prosociality is stimulated by empathic concerns towards others in need and underline the importance for future research to consider the broad spectrum of threats appraised by people during health emergencies.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04829-1.
The present research explored the influence of thinking style and the perception of threats to health and wealth on protective actions and well-being within the framework of the first wave of COVID-19 in Spain. We expected that an abstract (versus concrete) thinking style would be related to greater protective behaviours while maintaining a higher sense of well-being. Through an online questionnaire (N = 1,043), we explored these relationships and found that the most severe perceived threats to health and wealth and the highest degree of abstraction were associated with the greatest protective behaviours. Importantly, when people did not feel very threatened, those who thought abstractly reported more protective behaviours. Regarding well-being, when people perceived greater threats, those who had an abstract thinking style reported greater well-being. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the present research provides support indicating that an abstract thinking style is a protective factor against adversities because it is related to protective behaviours and increased well-being even when people perceive severe health and wealth threats.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, institutions encouraged social isolation and non-interaction with other people to prevent contagion. Still, the response to an impending economic crisis must be through collective organization. In this set of pre-registered studies, we analyze two possible mechanisms of coping with collective economic threat: shared social identity and interdependent self-construction. We conducted three correlational studies during the pandemic in May-October 2020 (Study 1, N = 363; Study 2, N = 250; Study 3, N = 416). Results show that shared identity at two levels of politicization (i.e., working class and 99% identities) and interdependent self-construal mediated the relationship between collective economic threat, intolerance towards economic inequality and collective actions to reduce it. The results highlight that the collective economic threat can reinforce the sense of community—either through the activation of a politicized collective identity, such as the working class or the 99% or through the activation of an interdependent self—which in turn can trigger with greater involvement in the fight against economic inequality. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article’s Community and Social Impact Statement.
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-sectional online survey was conducted during the first wave of the pandemic, involving 6697 respondents across 20 countries. Results showed that 72.9% of participants reported positive intentions to be vaccinated against COVID-19, whereas 16.8% were undecided, and 10.3% reported they would not be vaccinated. At the individual level, prosociality was a significant positive predictor of vaccination intentions, whereas generic beliefs in conspiracy theories and religiosity were negative predictors. Country-level determinants, including cultural dimensions of individualism/collectivism and power distance, were not significant predictors of vaccination intentions. Altogether, this study identifies individual-level predictors that are common across multiple countries, provides further evidence on the importance of combating conspiracy theories, involving religious
institutions in vaccination campaigns, and stimulating prosocial motives to encourage vaccine uptake.
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 41 countries (N = 55,015) collected as part of the PsyCorona project, a cross-national longitudinal study on responses to COVID-19. Our predictions were tested through multilevel and SEM models, treating participants as nested within countries. Results showed that people's concern with COVID-19 threat was related to greater desire for tightness which, in turn, was linked to more negative attitudes towards immigrants. These findings were followed up with a longitudinal model (N = 2,349) which also showed that people's heightened concern with COVID-19 in an earlier stage of the pandemic was associated with an increase in their desire for tightness and negative attitudes towards immigrants later in time. Our findings offer insight into the trade-offs that tightening social norms under collective threat has for human groups.
Research has demonstrated that situational factors such as perceived threats to the social order activate latent authoritarianism. The deadly COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to test whether existential threat stemming from an indiscriminate virus moderates the relationship between authoritarianism and political attitudes toward the nation and out-groups. Using data from two large nationally representative samples of adults in the United Kingdom ( N = 2,025) and Republic of Ireland ( N = 1,041) collected during the initial phases of strict lockdown measures in both countries, we find that the associations between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and (1) nationalism and (2) anti-immigrant attitudes are conditional on levels of perceived threat. As anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic increases, so too does the effect of RWA on those political outcomes. Thus, it appears that existential threats to humanity from the COVID-19 pandemic moderate expressions of authoritarianism in society.
Objective
To evaluate the association between physical distancing interventions and incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) globally.
Design
Natural experiment using interrupted time series analysis, with results synthesised using meta-analysis.
Setting
149 countries or regions, with data on daily reported cases of covid-19 from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and data on the physical distancing policies from the Oxford covid-19 Government Response Tracker.
Participants
Individual countries or regions that implemented one of the five physical distancing interventions (closures of schools, workplaces, and public transport, restrictions on mass gatherings and public events, and restrictions on movement (lockdowns)) between 1 January and 30 May 2020.
Main outcome measure
Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of covid-19 before and after implementation of physical distancing interventions, estimated using data to 30 May 2020 or 30 days post-intervention, whichever occurred first. IRRs were synthesised across countries using random effects meta-analysis.
Results
On average, implementation of any physical distancing intervention was associated with an overall reduction in covid-19 incidence of 13% (IRR 0.87, 95% confidence interval 0.85 to 0.89; n=149 countries). Closure of public transport was not associated with any additional reduction in covid-19 incidence when the other four physical distancing interventions were in place (pooled IRR with and without public transport closure was 0.85, 0.82 to 0.88; n=72, and 0.87, 0.84 to 0.91; n=32, respectively). Data from 11 countries also suggested similar overall effectiveness (pooled IRR 0.85, 0.81 to 0.89) when school closures, workplace closures, and restrictions on mass gatherings were in place. In terms of sequence of interventions, earlier implementation of lockdown was associated with a larger reduction in covid-19 incidence (pooled IRR 0.86, 0.84 to 0.89; n=105) compared with a delayed implementation of lockdown after other physical distancing interventions were in place (pooled IRR 0.90, 0.87 to 0.94; n=41).
Conclusions
Physical distancing interventions were associated with reductions in the incidence of covid-19 globally. No evidence was found of an additional effect of public transport closure when the other four physical distancing measures were in place. Earlier implementation of lockdown was associated with a larger reduction in the incidence of covid-19. These findings might support policy decisions as countries prepare to impose or lift physical distancing measures in current or future epidemic waves.
The World Health Organization has declared the rapid spread of COVID-19 around the world a global public health emergency. It is well-known that the spread of the disease is influenced by people's willingness to adopt preventative public health behaviors, which are often associated with public risk perception. In this study, we present the first assessment of public risk perception of COVID-19 around the world using national samples (total N = 6,991) in ten countries across Europe, America, and Asia. We find that although levels of concern are relatively high, they are highest in the UK compared to all other sampled countries. Pooled across countries, personal experience with the virus, indi-vidualistic and prosocial values, hearing about the virus from friends and family, trust in government, science, and medical professionals, personal knowledge of government strategy, and personal and collective efficacy were all significant predictors of risk perception. Although there was substantial variability across cultures, individualistic worldviews, personal experience, prosocial values, and social amplification through friends and family in particular were found to be significant determinants in more than half of the countries examined. Risk perception correlated significantly with reported adoption of preventative health behaviors in all ten countries. Implications for effective risk communication are discussed.
Governments around the world must rapidly mobilize and make difficult policy decisions to mitigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Because deaths have been concentrated at older ages, we highlight the important role of demography, particularly, how the age structure of a population may help explain differences in fatality rates across countries and how transmission unfolds. We examine the role of age structure in deaths thus far in Italy and South Korea and illustrate how the pandemic could unfold in populations with similar population sizes but different age structures, showing a dramatically higher burden of mortality in countries with older versus younger populations. This powerful interaction of demography and current age-specific mortality for COVID-19 suggests that social distancing and other policies to slow transmission should consider the age composition of local and national contexts as well as intergenerational interactions. We also call for countries to provide case and fatality data disaggregated by age and sex to improve real-time targeted forecasting of hospitalization and critical care needs.
Background
In December, 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel coronavirus, emerged in Wuhan, China. Since then, the city of Wuhan has taken unprecedented measures in response to the outbreak, including extended school and workplace closures. We aimed to estimate the effects of physical distancing measures on the progression of the COVID-19 epidemic, hoping to provide some insights for the rest of the world.
Methods
To examine how changes in population mixing have affected outbreak progression in Wuhan, we used synthetic location-specific contact patterns in Wuhan and adapted these in the presence of school closures, extended workplace closures, and a reduction in mixing in the general community. Using these matrices and the latest estimates of the epidemiological parameters of the Wuhan outbreak, we simulated the ongoing trajectory of an outbreak in Wuhan using an age-structured susceptible-exposed-infected-removed (SEIR) model for several physical distancing measures. We fitted the latest estimates of epidemic parameters from a transmission model to data on local and internationally exported cases from Wuhan in an age-structured epidemic framework and investigated the age distribution of cases. We also simulated lifting of the control measures by allowing people to return to work in a phased-in way and looked at the effects of returning to work at different stages of the underlying outbreak (at the beginning of March or April).
Findings
Our projections show that physical distancing measures were most effective if the staggered return to work was at the beginning of April; this reduced the median number of infections by more than 92% (IQR 66–97) and 24% (13–90) in mid-2020 and end-2020, respectively. There are benefits to sustaining these measures until April in terms of delaying and reducing the height of the peak, median epidemic size at end-2020, and affording health-care systems more time to expand and respond. However, the modelled effects of physical distancing measures vary by the duration of infectiousness and the role school children have in the epidemic.
Interpretation
Restrictions on activities in Wuhan, if maintained until April, would probably help to delay the epidemic peak. Our projections suggest that premature and sudden lifting of interventions could lead to an earlier secondary peak, which could be flattened by relaxing the interventions gradually. However, there are limitations to our analysis, including large uncertainties around estimates of R0 and the duration of infectiousness.
Funding
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Institute for Health Research, Wellcome Trust, and Health Data Research UK.
Research on money priming typically investigates whether exposure to money-related stimuli can affect people's thoughts, feelings, motivations, and behaviors (for a review, see Vohs, 2015). Our study answers the call for a comprehensive meta-analysis examining the available evidence on money priming (Vadillo, Hardwicke, & Shanks, 2016). By conducting a systematic search of published and unpublished literature on money priming, we sought to achieve three key goals. First, we aimed to assess the presence of biases in the available published literature (e.g., publication bias). econd, in the case of such biases, we sought to derive a more accurate estimate of the effect size after correcting for these biases. Third, we aimed to investigate whether design factors such as prime type and study setting moderated the money priming effects. Our overall meta-analysis included 246 suitable experiments and showed a significant overall effect size estimate (Hedges' g = .31, 95% CI [0.26, 0.36]). However, publication bias and related biases are likely given the asymmetric funnel plots, Egger's test and two other tests for publication bias. Moderator analyses offered insight into the variation of the money priming effect, suggesting for various types of study designs whether the effect was present, absent, or biased. We found the largest money priming effect in lab studies investigating a behavioral dependent measure using a priming technique in which participants actively handled money. Future research should use sufficiently powerful preregistered studies to replicate these findings.
The behavioral immune system is a motivational system that helps minimize infection risk by changing cognition, affect, and behavior in ways that promote pathogen avoidance. In the current paper, we review foundational concepts of the behavioral immune system and provide a brief summary of recent social psychological research on this topic. Next, we highlight current conceptual and empirical limitations of this work and delineate important questions that have the potential to drive major advances in the field. These questions include predicting the ontological development of the behavioral immune system, specifying the relationship between this system and the physiological immune system, and distinguishing conditions that elicit direct effects of situational pathogen threats versus effects that occur only in interaction with dispositional disease concerns. This discussion highlights significant challenges and underexplored topics to be addressed by the next generation of behavioral immune system research.
The construct of values is central to many fields in the social sciences and humanities. The last two decades have seen a growing body of psychological research that investigates the content, structure and consequences of personal values in many cultures. Taking a cross-cultural perspective we review, organize and integrate research on personal values, and point to some of the main findings that this research has yielded. Personal values are subjective in nature, and reflect what people think and state about themselves. Consequently, both researchers and laymen sometimes question the usefulness of personal values in influencing action. Yet, self-reported values predict a large variety of attitudes, preferences and overt behaviours. Individuals act in ways that allow them to express their important values and attain the goals underlying them. Thus, understanding personal values means understanding human behaviour.
The most commonly used method to test an indirect effect is to divide the estimate of the indirect effect by its standard error and compare the resulting z statistic with a critical value from the standard normal distribution. Confidence limits for the indirect effect are also typically based on critical values from the standard normal distribution. This article uses a simulation study to demonstrate that confidence limits are imbalanced because the distribution of the indirect effect is normal only in special cases. Two alternatives for improving the performance of confidence limits for the indirect effect are evaluated: (a) a method based on the distribution of the product of two normal random variables, and (b) resampling methods. In Study 1, confidence limits based on the distribution of the product are more accurate than methods based on an assumed normal distribution but confidence limits are still imbalanced. Study 2 demonstrates that more accurate confidence limits are obtained using resampling methods, with the bias-corrected bootstrap the best method overall.
Cultural variables are incorporated into a baseline endogenous economic growth model. Cultural attitudes toward achievement and thrift have a positive effect on economic growth. Cultural attitudes concerning postmaterialism have a negative effect on economic growth. Ordinary least squares regression is used to test economic and cultural models of growth on a cross section of 25 countries. The encompassing principle is used to resolve competing theoretical specifications and to generate a final parsimonious model. A variant of Leamer's Extreme Bounds Analysis (EBA) is used to evaluate the sensitivity of parameter estimates. The conclusions are further supported by nonparametric methods including robust regression and bootstrap resampling. The data for the analysis are from the World Values Survey (1990) and from Levine and Renelt (1992). An empirical model that incorporates both cultural and economic variables is superior to an explanation emphasizing one set of these variables. The final model is robust to: (1) alterations in the conditioning set of variables; (2) elimination of influential cases; and (3) variations in estimation procedures.
This study examined the relationships between daily negative financial events and positive and negative interpersonal events, as well as the moderating effects of life circumstances, for a sample of 182 adults between the age of 40 and 65 providing 30 days of diary data collected between 2008 and 2011. There was a significant and positive relationship between daily negative interpersonal events and daily levels of both negative interpersonal events and positive interpersonal events; these relationships varied by income, employment status, parenting roles, and the experience of major financial challenges over the previous year. The moderating effect of income was nonlinear but its effect disappeared when the interaction between major financial challenges over the previous year and daily negative financial events was entered into the model. The results were interpreted in the context of the stress proliferation and resource mobilization theoretical models and directions for future studies were delineated with respect to individual- and community-level factors that influence the role of financial events on the daily social worlds of middle-aged adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Multiple instruments have been developed and used to measure quantitative job insecurity (i.e., insecurity to lose the job as such), often without systematic evaluation of their psychometric characteristics across countries and language barriers. This may hamper consistent and reliable cross-study and cross-country comparisons. This study’s aim was to introduce and validate the four-item Job Insecurity Scale (JIS) developed by De Witte across five European countries (i.e., Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK). Overall, the results demonstrated the construct validity (i.e., configural invariance and invariance of the measurement model parameters), the reliability (internal consistency of the items), and the criterion validity (with respect to affective organizational commitment, perceived general health, and self-reported performance) of the JIS. The different translations of the JIS can thus be considered as valid and reliable instruments to measure job insecurity and can be used to make meaningful comparisons across countries. Furthermore, the JIS translations may be utilized to assess how job insecurity is related to outcomes.
Online social networking is a pervasive but empirically understudied phenomenon. Strong public opinions on its consequences exist but are backed up by little empirical evidence and almost no causally conclusive, experimental research. The current study tested the psychological effects of posting status updates on Facebook using an experimental design. For 1 week, participants in the experimental condition were asked to post more than they usually do, whereas participants in the control condition received no instructions. Participants added a lab “Research Profile” as a Facebook friend allowing for the objective documentation of protocol compliance, participants’ status updates, and friends’ responses. Results revealed (1) that the experimentally induced increase in status updating activity reduced loneliness, (2) that the decrease in loneliness was due to participants feeling more connected to their friends on a daily basis, and (3) that the effect of posting on loneliness was independent of direct social feedback (i.e., responses) by friends.
Our human ancestors learned to use morphological deviations from the normal population to identify conspecific pathogen carriers and developed group normative practices in fighting local diseases. Modern conformity is still driven in part by disease avoidance. In this study, we tested the association between pathogen threat and conformity in three studies. A survey of 164 college students revealed that perceived vulnerability to disease uniquely predicted conformity tendencies. Results from the next two experiments showed that, in comparison to the control groups, participants primed by pathogen threat conformed more to majority views when evaluating abstract art drawings and rated themselves as more conforming on a questionnaire. There appears to be an evolved pathogen-avoidance mechanism that includes not only out-group avoidance strategies as have been found by other researchers, but also in-group approach strategies such as conformity.
The theory outlined in the present chapter adopts a cognitive approach to motivation. In the pages that follow we describe a research program premised on the notion that the cognitive treatment affords conceptual and methodological advantages enabling new insights into problems of motivated action, self-regulation and self-control. We begin by placing our work in the broader historical context of social psychological theorizing about motivation and cognition. We then present our theoretical notions and trace their implications for a variety of psychological issues including activity-experience, goal-commitment, choice, and substitution. The gist of the chapter that follows describes our empirical research concerning a broad range of phenomena informed by the goal-systemic analysis. Motivation Versus Cognition, or Motivation as Cognition Motivation versus cognition: the “separatist program. ” Social psychological theories have often treated motivation as separate from cognition, and have often approached it in a somewhat static manner. The separatism of the “motivation versus cognition ” approach was manifest in several major formulations and debates. Thus, for example, the dissonance versus self-perception debate (Bem, 1972) pitted against each other motivational (i.e., dissonance) versus cognitive (i.e., self-perception) explanations of attitude change phenomena. A similar subsequent controversy pertained to the question of whether a motivational explanation of biased causal attributions in terms of ego-defensive tendencies (cf. Kelley, 1972) is valid, given the alternative possibility of a purely cognitive explanation (Miller & Ross, 1975). The separatism of the “motivation versus cognition ” approach assigned distinct functions to motivational and cognitive variables. This is apparent in major social psychological notions of persuasion, judgment or impression formation. For instance, in the popular dual-mode theories of
Social-learning perspectives explicitly recognize the role of partners' personal histories and contexts as possible causes of couple communication behavior, but these assumptions are rarely tested directly, and operationalizations of context in behavioral research on couples rarely extend beyond the interacting dyad. To broaden our understanding of why couples differ in communication, the current study examined whether observed behaviors in marital interactions covary with individual experiences and contextual factors. Behaviors coded from in-home conversations of 414 ethnically diverse newlywed couples were examined simultaneously in relation to childhood and family-of-origin experiences, financial strain and stressful life events, depressive symptoms, and relationship satisfaction. A latent factor representing financial strain and stressful life events was the strongest correlate of negative communication, with higher levels of stress predicting more negativity. Relationship satisfaction was the strongest correlate of observed positivity, with higher levels of satisfaction predicting more positivity. Childhood and family experiences were unrelated to behaviors, whereas results for depressive symptoms were complex and counterintuitive. Because the negative behaviors highlighted in social-learning models of relationship functioning, and often targeted in educational interventions, covary reliably with the stresses and financial strains that couples experience, contextual factors merit greater emphasis in models designed to explain and prevent marital deterioration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).
Using data from 88 samples from 40 countries, the authors reevaluate the propositions of a recent values theory and provide criteria for identifying what is culture-specific in value meanings and structure. They confirm the widespread presence of 10 value types, arrayed on a motivational continuum, and organized on virtually universal, orthogonal dimensions: Openness to Change versus Conservation and Self-Transcendence versus Self-Enhancement. Forty-four values demonstrate high cross-cultural consistency of meaning. In the average sample, about 16% of single values diverge from their proto-typical value types, and one pair of motivationally close value types is intermixed. Test-retest and randomly split sample analyses reveal that some two thirds of deviations represent unreliable measurement and one third represent culture-specific characteristics. Ways to identify and interpret the latter are presented.
Understanding value stability and change is essential for understanding values of both individuals and cultures.Yet theoretical thinking and empirical evidence on this topic have been scarce. In this article, the authors suggest a model outlining processes of individual value change. This model proposes that value change can occur through automatic and effortful routes. They identify five facilitators of value change (priming, adaptation, identification, consistency maintenance, and direct persuasion) and consider the moderating role of culture in each. In addition, the authors discuss the roles of culture, personal values, and traits as general moderators of value change. Evidence on the structure of value change and the effects of age on value change are also reviewed.
Loneliness has a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of people. The COVID-19 pandemic has demanded individuals to socially distance, which has implications for loneliness and social isolation. This cross-sectional study explored the ways in which people in the United States (N = 412) are meeting their social needs in a time of social distancing, how these activities relate to levels of loneliness, and any differences among young, middle-aged, and older adults. Results indicated higher levels of loneliness and social isolation for the entire sample and across the three age groups from pre- to during COVID-19 with younger adults experiencing higher levels of emotional loneliness during COVID-19. The extent to which the activities were related to loneliness was only found among the young adults and older adults where outdoor meet-ups, talking on the phone, and texting was associated with lower levels of loneliness among the young adults, and engaging in social media and talking on the phone was associated with lower levels of loneliness among the older adults. The findings support social work and public health recommendations for addressing loneliness during times of social distancing under the COVID-19 pandemic and future public health crises.
The aim of the present study was to examine the role of perceived social support pertaining to a range of psychological health outcomes amongst individuals undergoing social isolation and social distancing during COVID-19. A total of 2,020 participants provided responses to an online cross-sectional survey comprised of validated instruments including the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Brief Irritability Test (BITe) and the UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS). Individuals experiencing self-isolation had significantly higher rates of depression, irritability and loneliness compared to those who were not. The risk for elevated levels of depression symptoms was 63% lower in individuals who reported higher levels of social support compared to those with low perceived social support. Similarly, those with high social support had a 52% lower risk of poor sleep quality compared to those with low social support. Social support was found to be significantly associated with elevated risk for depression and poorer sleep quality. The results contribute to our understanding of differential psychological outcomes for individuals experiencing anti-pandemic measures.
In the months since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has overwhelmed the world, numerous popular press articles have recounted cases of mistreatment toward others rooted in traits associated with the illness. These accounts are the latest repercussion of a long running “otherness” that Western society has attributed to Asian peoples. This article draws on existing theory to better understand how social stigmas and subsequently prejudice may present additional challenges as nations grapple with restrictions on individuals’ movement and move to more normal social interaction. A discussion of COVID-19 in the context of stigmatization, social identity, and social cognition theories offer a means to better understand how those impacted and stereotyped by the virus may also experience negative treatment by others.
When thwarted goals increase endorsement of violence, it may not always reflect antisocial tendencies or some breakdown of self-regulation per se; such responses can also reflect an active process of self-regulation, whose purpose is to comply with the norms of one's social environment. In the present experiments (total N = 2,145), the causal link between thwarted goals and endorsement of violent means (guns and war) was found to be contingent on perceptions that violence is normatively valued. Experiments 1-3 establish that thwarted goals increase endorsement of violence primarily among U.S. adults of a lower educational background and/or men who endorse a masculine honor culture. Experiment 4 manipulates the perceived normative consensus of college educated Americans, and demonstrates that thwarted goals increase college educated Americans' endorsement of whatever norm is salient: prowar or antiwar. Generalizing the model beyond violent means, Experiment 5 demonstrates that goal-thwarted Europeans report increased willingness to volunteer for refugee support activities if they perceive strong social norms to volunteer. Altogether, these findings support a frustration-affirmation model rather than frustration-aggression, whereby thwarted goals increase compliance with perceived norms for behavior, which can increase endorsement of violent means such as guns and war, but also nonviolent charitable actions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in over 1.4 million confirmed cases and over 83,000 deaths globally. It has also sparked fears of an impending economic crisis and recession. Social distancing, self-isolation and travel restrictions forced a decrease in the workforce across all economic sectors and caused many jobs to be lost. Schools have closed down, and the need of commodities and manufactured products has decreased. In contrast, the need for medical supplies has significantly increased. The food sector has also seen a great demand due to panic-buying and stockpiling of food products. In response to this global outbreak, we summarise the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 on individual aspects of the world economy.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having a profound effect on all aspects of society, including mental health and physical health. We explore the psychological, social, and neuroscientific effects of COVID-19 and set out the immediate priorities and longer-term strategies for mental health science research. These priorities were informed by surveys of the public and an expert panel convened by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the mental health research charity, MQ: Transforming Mental Health, in the first weeks of the pandemic in the UK in March, 2020. We urge UK research funding agencies to work with researchers, people with lived experience, and others to establish a high level coordination group to ensure that these research priorities are addressed, and to allow new ones to be identified over time. The need to maintain high-quality research standards is imperative. International collaboration and a global perspective will be beneficial. An immediate priority is collecting high-quality data on the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic across the whole population and vulnerable groups, and on brain function, cognition, and mental health of patients with COVID-19. There is an urgent need for research to address how mental health consequences for vulnerable groups can be mitigated under pandemic conditions, and on the impact of repeated media consumption and health messaging around COVID-19. Discovery, evaluation, and refinement of mechanistically driven interventions to address the psychological, social, and neuroscientific aspects of the pandemic are required. Rising to this challenge will require integration across disciplines and sectors, and should be done together with people with lived experience. New funding will be required to meet these priorities, and it can be efficiently leveraged by the UK's world-leading infrastructure. This Position Paper provides a strategy that may be both adapted for, and integrated with, research efforts in other countries.
This paper highlights the enormous economic and social impact of COVID-19 with respect to articles that have either prognosticated such a large-scale event, and its economic consequences, or have assessed the impacts of other epidemics and pandemics. A consideration of possible impacts of COVID-19 on financial markets and institutions, either directly or indirectly, is briefly outlined by drawing on a variety of literatures. A consideration of the characteristics of COVID-19, along with what research suggests have been the impacts of other past events that in some ways roughly parallel COVID-19, points toward avenues of future investigation.
Using nationally representative U.S., German, and Australian samples from the World Values Survey, we examined tendencies to perceive differences (socially‐ and biologically‐based) and threats (physical, economic, and symbolic) more negatively and cultural values (the emphasis on individual uniqueness and individual achievements) as predictors of prejudice toward immigrants and foreign workers. The effects of each of the predictors on prejudice in a regression model did not significantly differ among these countries, except for a biologically‐based difference, symbolic threat, and individual uniqueness. Compared to each of the other two countries, the effect of a biologically‐based difference was stronger in Australia, and the effect of symbolic threat was stronger in Germany. The effect of individual uniqueness was stronger in the U.S. than in Germany. Results demonstrated that country‐specific orientations toward race and ethnicity may affect the psychological dynamics of prejudice toward immigrants and foreign workers and ultimately the reception of these groups in each country.
This prospective longitudinal study examined stress-mediating potentials of 3 types of social support: social embeddedness, perceived support from nonkin, and perceived support from kin. As participants in a statewide panel study, 222 older adults were interviewed once before and twice after a severe flood. It was hypothesized that disaster exposure (stress) would influence depression directly and indirectly, through deterioration of social support. LISREL analyses indicated that postdisaster declines in social embeddedness and nonkin support mediated the immediate and delayed impact of disaster stress. No evidence was found for the mediational role of kin support. Findings are in accord with conceptualizations of social support as an entity reflecting dynamic transactions among individuals, their social networks, and environmental pressures.
Social support is a known protective factor against the negative psychological impact of natural disasters. Most past research has examined how the effects of exposure to traumatic events influences whether someone meets diagnostic criteria for depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); it has also suggested sequelae of disaster exposure depends on whether survivors are displaced from their homes. To capture the full range of the psychological impact of natural disasters, we examined the buffering effects of social support on depressive symptoms and cluster-specific PTSD symptoms, with consideration of displacement status. In a survey conducted 18 to 24 months after Hurricane Katrina, 810 adults exposed to the disaster reported the number of Katrina-related traumatic events experienced, perceived social support 2 months post-Katrina, and cluster-specific PTSD and depressive symptoms experienced since Katrina. Analyses assessed the moderating effects of social support and displacement and the conditional effects of displacement status. Social support significantly buffered the negative effect of Katrina-related traumatic events on depressive symptoms, B = -0.10, p = .001, and avoidance and arousal PTSD symptoms, B = -0.02, p = .035 and B = -0.02, p = .042, respectively. Three-way interactions were nonsignificant. Conditional effects indicated social support buffered development of depressive symptoms across all residents; however, the moderating effects of support on avoidance and arousal symptoms only appeared significant for nondisplaced residents. Results highlight the protective effects of disaster-related social support among nondisplaced individuals, and suggest displaced individuals may require more formal supports for PTSD symptom reduction following a natural disaster.
The "behavioral immune system" is a motivational system that evolved as a means of inhibiting contact with disease-causing parasites and that, in contemporary human societies, influences social cognition and social behavior. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the behavioral immune system and how it works, along with a review of empirical research documenting its consequences for a wide range of social psychological phenomena-including person perception, interpersonal attraction, intergroup prejudice, social influence, and moral judgment. We also describe further consequences for health, for politics and public policy, and for cultural differences. Finally, we discuss a variety of broader implications-both practical and conceptual-and identify some important directions for future research.
In response to the Ebola scare in 2014, many people evinced strong fear and xenophobia. The present study, informed by the pathogen-prevalence hypothesis, tested the influence of individualism and collectivism on xenophobic response to the threat of Ebola. A nationally representative sample of 1,000 Americans completed a survey, indicating their perceptions of their vulnerability to Ebola, ability to protect themselves from Ebola (protection efficacy), and xenophobic tendencies. Overall, the more vulnerable people felt, the more they exhibited xenophobic responses, but this relationship was moderated by individualism and collectivism. The increase in xenophobia associated with increased vulnerability was especially pronounced among people with high individualism scores and those with low collectivism scores. These relationships were mediated by protection efficacy. State-level collectivism had the same moderating effect on the association between perceived vulnerability and xenophobia that individual-level value orientation did. Collectivism—and the set of practices and rituals associated with collectivistic cultures—may serve as psychological protection against the threat of disease.
As predicted by the parasite-stress theory of values, variation in parasite stress correlated with collectivism–individualism across nations, USA states, and indigenous societies. In regions with high adversity of infectious diseases, human cultures are characterized by high collectivism, whereas in regions of low parasite stress cultures are highly individualistic. The prediction from the parasite-stress theory of values that infectious disease transmissible among humans (nonzoonotics) will be more important in predicting collectivism–individualism than those that humans can contract only from nonhuman animals (zoonotics) was supported. Evidence in human movement patterns for nations, states of the USA, and indigenous societies supports the hypothesis that the absence of dispersal (high philopatry) is a defense against contact with novel parasites in out-groups and their habitats. We show that human cultures with high degrees of collectivism have high degrees of cooperative breeding, and propose that the parasite-stress theory of sociality offers a general theory of family structure across humans as well as nonhuman animal taxa. We propose that a major context for the evolution of human reciprocity was in gaining benefits from out-group interactions during periods of relatively low disease threat. The parasite-stress theory of values offers a novel perspective to explain the evolution of reciprocity and human unique cognitive abilities. The parasite-stress theory suggests useful new research directions for the study of the demographic transition, patriotism, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, and moral foundations theory. We include discussion of ecological correlations and the ecological fallacy. The fact that all scientific findings are correlational is explained.
Parasite adversity was an important source of Darwinian selection in human evolutionary history because parasites selected for a diversity of human behavioral parasite-defenses in addition to the numerous defenses provided by the classical human immune system. We argue for a broader view of behavioral immunity than has been emphasized recently. We propose a new hypothesis for the evolution of the unique cognitive and social adaptations of humans. We argue that, in human evolutionary history, as weaponry and other technologies reduced the importance of the physical environment, typical ecological challenges, and predators as agents of selection shaping mental and social traits, parasites became more important selection agents on these traits. Also, we suggest that the reduction of natural selection in the context of predation in human evolutionary history resulted in selection favoring high pathogenicity in human parasites because predation is focused on debilitated prey and hence selects against pathogenicity in the parasites involved. The new hypothesis argues that, in human evolutionary history, temporal variation in local parasite adversity gave rise to frequent change and complexity in the values that are adaptive for individuals to use in their social navigation in relation to the degree of local disease stress, and that selection in this context accounts for the evolution of aspects of human uniqueness in cognitive ability and sociality. The new hypothesis is akin to the social brain hypothesis but is contrary to the version of that hypothesis deemphasizing parasites. Tests of the new hypothesis are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
The present research addresses the interplay between agency motives and objective dyadic closeness with regard to the functioning of intimate couple relationships. Applying a Person × Situation approach, we hypothesized (a) that partners' implicit and explicit agency motives predict their selection of dyadic living arrangements characterized by high or low objective closeness (coresidence or living-apart-together), (b) that agency motives have more negative effects on relationship functioning in coresident couples, (c) that agency motives predict agentic motivational states in coresident couples, and (d) that agentic states predict day-to-day changes in relationship satisfaction under conditions of high objective closeness. We found support for these between- and within-couple hypotheses in cross-sectional and prospective analyses of an age-heterogeneous sample of 548 heterosexual couples, and in a 2-week diary study with a subsample of 106 couples. Most notably, agentic motive dispositions and motivational states related to relationship functioning more negatively under conditions of high objective closeness. The overall positive effect of objective closeness on relationship functioning was diminished by strong agentic motivation. Perspectives for future research on agency motives in couple relationships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
This book develops and tests an ecological and evolutionary theory of the causes of human values-the core beliefs that guide people's cognition and behavior-and their variation across time and space around the world. We call this theory the parasite-stress theory of values or the parasite-stress theory of sociality. The evidence we present in our book indicates that both a wide span of human affairs and major aspects of human cultural diversity can be understood in light of variable parasite (infectious disease) stress and the range of value systems evoked by variable parasite stress. The same evidence supports the hypothesis that people have psychological adaptations that function to adopt values dependent upon local infectious-disease adversity. The authors have identified key variables, variation in infectious disease adversity and in the core values it evokes, for understanding these topics and in novel and encompassing ways. Although the human species is the focus in the book, evidence presented in the book shows that the parasite-stress theory of sociality informs other topics in ecology and evolutionary biology such as variable family organization and speciation processes and biological diversity in general in non-human animals. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014. All rights are reserved.
This study investigates demand/withdraw communication and spousal expressions of gratitude as intervening variables in the association between financial distress and marital quality. With a sample of 468 married individuals, dual-mediation models revealed demand/withdraw transmitted the effect of financial distress onto 3 different marital outcomes; in most instances, this indirect effect occurred through total couple demand/withdraw and not one spouse-specific pattern. In moderated mediation models, spousal gratitude exerted main effects on all marital outcomes and, for a subset of outcomes, protective effects for couples with high levels of demand/withdraw. Results elucidate how demand/withdraw patterns link financial distress to marital outcomes and highlight spousal gratitude expressions as a promising, yet understudied, process within couples that promotes and protects marital quality.
Caruso, Vohs, Baxter, and Waytz (2013) posited that because money is used in free market exchanges, cues of money would lead people to justify and support the systems that allow those exchanges to take place. Hence, the authors predicted that money primes would boost system justification, social dominance, belief in a just world, and free market ideology, and found supportive evidence. Rohrer, Pashler, and Harris (2015) failed to replicate those effects. This article discusses the factors that predict priming effects, and particularly those pertinent to differences between Caruso et al. and Rohrer et al. Variations in a prime's meaning, the ease with which primed content comes to mind, the prime's motivational importance, and the ambiguity of the outcome situation influence the impact of the prime. Money priming experiments (totaling 165 to date, from 18 countries) point to at least 2 major effects. First, compared to neutral primes, people reminded of money are less interpersonally attuned. They are not prosocial, caring, or warm. They eschew interdependence. Second, people reminded of money shift into professional, business, and work mentality. They exert effort on challenging tasks, demonstrate good performance, and feel efficacious. Money priming is not the same as priming another popular means of exchange, credit cards, and can have bigger effects when there is an implied connection between the self and having money. The practical benefits of money have been studied by other disciplines for decades, and the time is now for psychologists to study the effects of merely being reminded of money. (PsycINFO Database Record
(c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
An evolutionary perspective on human cognition provides a foundation for research programs that identify unique linkages between specific threats and specific prejudices directed against specific categories of people. It also provides a set of logical tools that help identify conditions under which these prejudices are exaggerated or inhibited. We focus here on two kinds of threats: The threat of interpersonal violence and the threat of infectious disease. The inferred threat of interpersonal violence leads to a fear prejudice against members of coalitional outgroups. This prejudice (along with a set of cognitive consequences) emerges especially under conditions that connote vulnerability to interpersonal harm. The inferred threat of infectious disease leads to a disgust prejudice against individuals whose morphological appearance or behavior deviates from normative standards. This prejudice emerges especially under conditions that connote vulnerability to infection. Together, these lines of research yield insights about the origins of prejudices directed against many different categories of people (many of whom pose no real threat whatsoever) and also have useful implications for prejudice-reducing interventions. The results also indicate that the psychology of prejudice is best conceptualized as the psychology of prejudices (plural).
Identification With All Humanity (IWAH) relates to higher levels of concern and supportive behavior towards the disadvantaged, stronger endorsement of human rights, and stronger responses in favor of global harmony. So far, IWAH has been conceptualized as a one-dimensional construct describing the degree with which one identifies with all humans as a superordinate ingroup. However, recent group identification models suggest a multi-dimensional model to provide a more differentiated approach towards the understanding of the highest level of social identification. Using principal axis (Study 1) and confirmatory (Study 2) factor analyses, we suggest that IWAH sub-divides into two dimensions – global self-definition and global self-investment. Study 2 revealed that global self-investment was a stronger predictor for both convergent measures (e.g., social dominance orientation, authoritarianism), and behavioral intentions than global self-definition. Finally, in Study 3, we manipulated IWAH to test its causal effect on donation behavior. Participants in the experimental condition, compared with the control condition, showed higher global self-investment, which in turn predicted greater giving to global charity. These findings suggest that two dimensions with different behavioral outcomes underlie IWAH.
Values are important factors in determining individuals' behaviours. Previous studies have examined the relations between values and helping behaviour, but usually in the context of a single culture. The current study examines the relations between personal value types and helping behaviour among university students (N = 722) in four cultures (Germany, Scotland-UK, Israel and Turkey). Across cultures, the value types of self-transcendence versus self-enhancement and conservation versus openness to change were positively related to helping. Specifically, self-transcendence values were positively related, and self-enhancement and openness to change values negatively related, to helping behaviour. The correlations pattern did not differ significantly between cultures.
Monte Carlo simulation is a useful but underutilized method of constructing confidence intervals for indirect effects in mediation analysis. The Monte Carlo confidence interval method has several distinct advantages over rival methods. Its performance is comparable to other widely accepted methods of interval construction, it can be used when only summary data are available, it can be used in situations where rival methods (e.g., bootstrapping and distribution of the product methods) are difficult or impossible, and it is not as computer-intensive as some other methods. In this study we discuss Monte Carlo confidence intervals for indirect effects, report the results of a simulation study comparing their performance to that of competing methods, demonstrate the method in applied examples, and discuss several software options for implementation in applied settings.
In this article we explain how attachment theory characterizes the seeking, receipt, and provision of social support. In the first section, we explain attachment theory's perspective on support-seeking (or attachment behavior) and support-provision (or caregiving behavior). In the second section, we discuss what has been learned about attachment-style differences in perceived support, seeking support, and providing support. In the third section, we consider the empirically documented psychological benefits of receiving support, which we summarize in terms of a broaden-and-build cycle of attachment security. Throughout the article we offer several avenues for future research that can advance our understanding of the cognitive-affective and neural mechanisms underlying social support and the psychological benefits of supportive experiences.
The current paper uses archival data to examine variations in Schwartz's and Hofstede's cultural value orientations and their relationship to attitudes toward immigration and multiculturalism reported in the Eurobarometer Survey [Attitudes towards minority groups in the European Union: a special analysis of the Eurobarometer 2000 opinion poll on behalf of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. Eurobarometer Opinion Poll. Retrieved September 1, 2003, from 〈http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/index_en.htm〉] on racism and xenophobia. The results demonstrated that mastery, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and collectivism were associated with weaker support for policies that promote social co-existence. Masculinity and mastery were also linked to more pessimistic attitudes towards multiculturalism, and increased harmony was correlated with less desire for cultural assimilation. The results largely converge with research undertaken at the individual-level of analysis, and the data suggest four clusters of cultural values related to immigration attitudes: humanitarianism-egalitarianism, conservation, collectivism, and instrumentality.
In 1968 and 1971, the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) obtained national data for rankings of 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values. In 1974 and 1981, the Institute for Social Research (ISR) obtained additional data for the same 18 terminal values. In a 1985 study, Inglehart compared the 4 sets of terminal value rankings thus obtained and found them to be remarkably stable. These same data also show, however, that Americans underwent dramatic value changes during the same period. The most disturbing finding is that equality, the value previously found to be highly correlated with antiracist and liberal attitudes, decreased more than any other value. This and other value changes contradict well-established NORC, Gallup, and ISR findings showing (a) impressive increases in antiracist attitudes and (b) a "much more variable" and (c) "much lower level of support" for attitudes toward implementation of integration. We propose a theoretical explanation of the three sets of contradictory findings. Moreover, we offer a theoretical explanation of naturally occurring stability and change in American value priorities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Macroeconomic conditions have long been suspected of increasing hostility toward ethnic outgroups. Integrating prior work on macroeconomic threat with recent threat-based models of prejudice, the current work employs an experimental approach to examine the implications of economic threat for prejudice toward ethnic outgroups. In Study 1, participants primed with an economic threat (relative to a non-economic threat and neutral topic) reported more prejudice against Asian Americans, an ethnic group whose stereotype implies a threat to scarce employment opportunities. In addition, economic threat led to a heightened state of anxiety, which mediated the influence of economic threat on prejudice against Asian Americans. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings by demonstrating that economic threat heightened prejudice against Asian Americans, but not Black Americans, an ethnic group whose stereotype does not imply a threat to economic resources. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the role of macroeconomic conditions in potentiating antisocial responses to particular outgroups.
Let's talk first about parasites. Given the persistent influence that bacteria, viruses, and other parasites have had on human evolution (Van Blerkom, 2003), it's astonishing that so little scientific attention has been devoted to their impact on human psychology and hu-man culture. There are extensive bodies of research documenting the role of parasites on evolved patterns of animal cognition and behavior. Many studies reveal that mammals are sensitive to signs of parasitic infec-tion in potential mates and avoid mating with individu-als who show those signs (e.g., Kavaliers, Colwell, Braun, & Choleris, 2003). These kinds of effects are not restricted to mating contexts either. Bullfrog tad-poles selectively prefer to swim near healthy tadpoles, while avoiding tadpoles that carry parasitic infections (Kiesecker, Skelly, Beard, & Preisser, 1999). Closer to home (phylogenetically speaking), chimpanzees react with unusual violence toward other chimpanzees that show the physical symptoms of debilitating diseases (Goodall, 1986). It is likely that the human mind too is characterized by mechanisms designed to recognize and respond negatively to individuals who show signs of parasite infections—and to do so especially under conditions in which the risk of parasitic infection is es-pecially high (Kurzban & Leary, 2001; Schaller, Park, & Faulkner, 2003). In recent years, empirical studies have docu-mented the presence of just such mechanisms and their consequences on social cognition and behavior. Some of these consequences are straightforward: We stigmatize and avoid sick people, especially when we perceive their sickness to be contagious (Crandall & Moriarty, 1995). Additional consequences are more subtle. We not only stigmatize people who really are sick; we also stigmatize people who may be perfectly healthy but who—on the basis of some superficial feature—appear to pose a risk of parasite transmis-sion. And we do so especially under conditions in which we feel especially vulnerable to parasitic infec-tion. Xenophobic reactions to foreigners are stronger among folks who feel personally vulnerable to germs and disease (Faulkner, Schaller, Park, & Duncan, 2004). Individuals with deviant or nonprototypical morphological features—people who are disfigured or disabled, or who are grossly obese—are similarly stigmatized, and, again, this stigmatization seems to occur especially strongly among people who are per-sonally concerned about their own vulnerability to disease (Park, 2005; Park, Faulkner, & Schaller, 2003). The preference for physically attractive mates might also be understood within this context. Physi-cal unattractiveness is based substantially on per-ceived deviations from a population prototype (Langlois & Roggman, 1990). Consequently, the sub-jective assessment of unattractiveness may serve as a cue indicating the potential presence of a parasitic in-fection at the moment, as well as a cue indicating po-tential susceptibility to parasitic infections in the fu-ture. Within this conceptual context, it is no surprise that people care about the physical attractiveness of someone with whom they are destined to spend a lot of time with and that they care especially within pop-ulations that have historically been more vulnerable to debilitating parasitic infections (Gangestad & Buss, 1993). Now, in the results reported by Gangestad, Haselton, and Buss (this issue), we en-counter even more impressive evidence that para-site-prevalence influences mate-selection preferences, and this influence occurs across an even broader set of preferences.
This chapter provides an overview of self-affirmation theory. Self-affirmation theory asserts that the overall goal of the self-system is to protect an image of its self-integrity, of its moral and adaptive adequacy. When this image of self-integrity is threatened, people respond in such a way as to restore self-worth. The chapter illustrates how self-affirmation affects not only people's cognitive responses to threatening information and events, but also their physiological adaptations and actual behavior. It examines the ways in which self-affirmations reduce threats to the self at the collective level, such as when people confront threatening information about their groups. It reviews factors that qualify or limit the effectiveness of self-affirmations, including situations where affirmations backfire, and lead to greater defensiveness and discrimination. The chapter discusses the connection of self-affirmations theory to other motivational theories of self-defense and reviews relevant theoretical and empirical advances. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of self-affirmations theory for interpersonal relationships and coping.
This paper summarizes some of the major principles of belief system theory and describes the method of value self-confrontation. An example of how value self-confrontation can be used to modify environmental values is provided. The research on value self-confrontation is reviewed and critically evaluated. Although there is support for belief system theory and for the efficacy of value self-confrontation as a means of inducing long-term change in important values, attitudes, and behaviors, a number of important questions remain unanswered. In particular, the psychological mechanisms underlying change in values, attitudes, and behaviors after value self-confrontation require clarification and further study.