Matthew J. Hornsey’s research while affiliated with The University of Queensland and other places


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Publications (249)


Intergroup Conflict Over Climate Change: Problems and Solutions
  • Article

October 2024

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30 Reads

European Journal of Social Psychology

Matthew J. Hornsey

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Kelly S. Fielding

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George Marshall

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Global progress in combatting climate change is being slowed by intergroup conflict and tribalism. Addressing the intergroup tensions of today is a pre‐requisite for avoiding violent intergroup tensions in the future, tensions that may threaten societal structures we currently take for granted. This paper highlights five sources of intergroup conflict that compromise humans’ ability to effectively and swiftly respond to climate change: political tribalism, populist suspicion of elites, regional differences within nations, international conflicts, and tensions between and within activist identities. We then draw on established and emerging social psychological theorising to describe five strategies for constructively managing this intergroup conflict: maintaining climate justice, reducing disinformation and silencing bad‐faith actors, maintaining cohesion among progressive forces, focusing on trusted messengers, and empathic communication. Throughout we underscore the extent to which policy making and strategic communication can play roles in depolarising debate about climate change.


The Elite Global Citizen: How Wealth Shapes Cosmopolitan Identity and Charitable Intentions

October 2024

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18 Reads

European Journal of Social Psychology

In four studies, we provide the first empirical examination of how wealth relates to cosmopolitan identity and its consequences for charitable intentions. Study 1 demonstrated that wealth positively predicted cosmopolitan identity in a 60‐nation dataset ( n = 90,350). Study 2 replicated this finding with multi‐item measures in the United States, India and Australia (total n = 861); self‐esteem and self‐efficacy accounted for this association. Study 3 demonstrated the mediating role of cosmopolitan identity in explaining the link between wealth and charitable intentions ( n = 351). Study 4 provided causal evidence for these relationships by experimentally manipulating wealth perceptions in the United States and India (total n = 537). People who were made to feel wealthy (as opposed to poor) reported greater self‐esteem and self‐efficacy, which flowed through to heightened cosmopolitan identification, and finally to increased charitable intentions. Together, these studies suggest that structural economic realities may impose psychological barriers to cultivating global citizenship, hence implicating prosocial downstream consequences.


Percentage of participants who rated “rather agree” or “strongly agree” with 16 contrarian claims (Study 1)
Claims are sorted by decreasing the average level of agreement across countries. Exact wordings can be found in Table 1. United States: N = 1000, United Kingdom: N = 1000, Australia N = 1000. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Multiple regression analyses with gender, age, education, science knowledge, environmental identity, New Ecological Paradigm, political orientation and conspiracy mentality predicting agreement with contrarian claims (Study 1)
Data are presented as standardised regression coefficients β with their 95% confidence intervals. Tests were two-sided and no adjustments for multiple comparisons were made (α = 0.05). Gender was coded −1 male and +1 female, so positive coefficients represent higher scores for females (vs. males). Participants not identifying as male or female were not included in these analyses. United States: N = 989, United Kingdom: N = 996, Australia N = 998. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Percentage of participants who rated “rather agree” or “strongly agree” with 13 contrarian claims (Study 2)
Claims are sorted by decreasing the average level of agreement across countries. Exact wordings can be found in Table 3. United States: N = 1000, United Kingdom: N = 1004, Australia N = 1004. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Multiple regression analyses with gender, age, education, science knowledge, New Ecological Paradigm, political orientation and conspiracy mentality predicting agreement with contrarian claims (Study 2)
Data are presented as standardised regression coefficients β with their 95% confidence intervals. Tests were two-sided and no adjustments for multiple comparisons were made (α = 0.05). Gender was coded −1 male and +1 female, so positive coefficients represent higher scores for females (vs. males). Participants not identifying as male or female were not included in these analyses. United States: N = 995, United Kingdom: N = 1003, Australia N = 1001. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Public agreement with misinformation about wind farms
  • Article
  • Full-text available

October 2024

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62 Reads

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1 Citation

Nature Communications

Misinformation campaigns target wind farms, but levels of agreement with this misinformation among the broader public are unclear. Across six nationally quota-based samples in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia (total N = 6008), over a quarter of respondents agree with half or more of contrarian claims about wind farms. Agreement with diverse claims is highly correlated, suggesting an underlying belief system directed at wind farm rejection. Consistent with this, agreement is best predicted (positively) by a conspiracist worldview (i.e., the general tendency to believe in conspiracy theories; explained variance ΔR² = 0.11–0.20) and (negatively) by a pro-ecological worldview (ΔR² = 0.04–0.13). Exploratory analyses show that agreement with contrarian claims is associated with lower support for pro-wind policies and greater intentions to protest against wind farms. We conclude that wind farm contrarianism is a mainstream phenomenon, rooted in people’s worldviews and that poses a challenge for communicators and institutions committed to accelerating the energy transition.

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The vaccination divide: Exploring moral reasoning associated with intergroup antipathy between vaccinated and unvaccinated people

June 2024

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13 Reads

British Journal of Health Psychology

Objectives There is growing evidence of intergroup hostility between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, a process of polarization that threatens to derail population health efforts. This study explores the moral underpinnings of intergroup antipathy between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Design A cross‐sectional design was employed to investigate the associations between the view of vaccination as a social contract or individual choice, perceived vulnerability to disease, perceptions of outgroup morality, feelings of warmth, and experiences of schadenfreude. Methods Data were extracted from an online, quantitative survey of 233 vaccinated and 237 unvaccinated participants collected between June and July 2022. Results Results revealed that vaccinated people had stronger negative attitudes towards unvaccinated people than vice versa. In line with hypotheses, the extent to which vaccinated people saw vaccination as a social contract was significantly associated with perceiving unvaccinated people as immoral. For unvaccinated people, seeing vaccination as an individual choice (the opposite of a social contract) was significantly associated with perceiving vaccinated people as immoral. Among both groups, viewing the other as immoral was associated with feeling significantly less warmth towards the opposing vaccination group, and more schadenfreude in the face of an outgroup member's suffering. Participants' perceived vulnerability to disease played a relatively small role in explaining polarization between vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Conclusions This research builds on previous studies by identifying moral mechanisms associated with intergroup antipathy in the vaccine debate.


Visualisation of 2,396,611 Climate-Related Tweet Locations Across Continental U.S
Publicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions

May 2024

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37 Reads

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1 Citation

Climatic Change

Samuel Pearson

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Matthew J. Hornsey

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[...]

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We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate scepticism – and the aggressiveness of climate-related tweets – was greater in states with higher per capita carbon emissions. This pattern remained significant after controlling for political conservatism, GDP per capita, education, and gender, and was replicated across 126 nations from around the world. The findings are consistent with a vested interest hypothesis—misinformation around climate change is most likely to be distributed in regions where there is high fossil fuel reliance, and where the economic stakes of acknowledging climate change are high. Understanding the macro-level patterns that are implicated in climate scepticism can help inform structural interventions for those seeking a low-carbon future.



Second order quadratic latent growth curve model showing that the initial level (intercept) of loneliness, as well as the trajectory (linear slope) of loneliness over five waves are associated with higher endorsement of a conspiracy worldview in midlife
Standardized path coefficients, 95% confidence intervals and exact p-values are presented. Loneliness 1–3 and Conspiracy 1–5 denote the observed indicators (items) used to measure, respectively, loneliness and conspiracy worldview. T1–T5 denote five timepoints at which loneliness was measured. Measurement models of loneliness are displayed in light blue, second order latent constructs of the growth model of loneliness are displayed in dark blue, and the measurement model of conspiracy beliefs in pink. All correlations between the intercept and slopes, as well as correlations of residuals of equivalent items measuring loneliness at different timepoints, were also estimated but are not visualized for model readability. All p-values are two-tailed and based on the z statistic. Since the analysis is a latent growth curve model with one outcome, adjustments for multiple comparisons are not applicable. See Table 1 for detailed model estimates.
Loneliness trajectories over three decades are associated with conspiracist worldviews in midlife

April 2024

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131 Reads

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1 Citation

In the age of misinformation, conspiracy theories can have far-reaching consequences for individuals and society. Social and emotional experiences throughout the life course, such as loneliness, may be associated with a tendency to hold conspiracist worldviews. Here, we present results from a population-based sample of Norwegians followed for almost three decades, from adolescence into midlife (N = 2215). We examine participants’ life trajectories of loneliness using latent growth curve modeling. We show that people reporting high levels of loneliness in adolescence, and those who experience increasing loneliness over the life course, are more likely to endorse conspiracy worldviews in midlife.


A 30-nation investigation of lay heritability beliefs

April 2024

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35 Reads

Public Understanding of Science

Lay beliefs about human trait heritability are consequential for cooperation and social cohesion, yet there has been no global characterisation of these beliefs. Participants from 30 countries ( N = 6128) reported heritability beliefs for intelligence, personality, body weight and criminality, and transnational factors that could influence these beliefs were explored using public nation-level data. Globally, mean lay beliefs differ from published heritability ( h ² ) estimated by twin studies, with a worldwide majority overestimating the heritability of personality and intelligence, and underestimating body weight and criminality. Criminality was seen as substantially less attributable to genes than other traits. People from countries with high infant mortality tended to ascribe greater heritability for most traits, relative to people from low infant mortality countries. This study provides the first systematic foray into worldwide lay heritability beliefs. Future research must incorporate diverse global perspectives to further contextualise and extend upon these findings.




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Citations (78)


... Similarly, studies have shown people from countries with higher per capita GDP (a component of HDI) were less likely to show climate change awareness and perceived risk 35 and less willing to contribute part of their income to mitigate climate change 4 . One potential explanation is that countries with lower HDI/GDP do not have the same ability to buffer against the negative effects of climate change and are thus more sensitive to the need for action 44 . ...

Reference:

Machine learning identifies key individual and nation-level factors predicting climate-relevant beliefs and behaviors
Perceptions of climate change threat across 121 nations: The role of individual and national wealth
  • Citing Article
  • May 2024

Journal of Environmental Psychology

... Carbon emissions per capita People from countries relying heavily on fossil fuels are less willing to acknowledge the risk of climate change 38 and research has shown an association between climate skepticism and carbon emissions. ...

Publicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions

Climatic Change

... A sincere belief in a shadowy, faceless out-group posing constant threats to health and autonomy is likely to result in a negative feedback loop, particularly considering the audience's established predisposition for anxiety and paranoia (Bowes et al., 2021). It is also likely to result in decreased trust of others and feelings of isolation, both of which have been identified as both antecedents and consequences of conspiracy theory endorsement (Bierwiaczonek et al., 2024;Dyrendal et al., 2021;Liekefett et al., 2022). ...

Loneliness trajectories over three decades are associated with conspiracist worldviews in midlife

... Ethical and environmental concerns significantly influence consumer acceptance (Pakseresht et al., 2022). Important factors include animal welfare (Wilks et al., 2024;Bryant et al., 2020), perceptions of the unnatural production process (Gonzalez Coffin et al., 2024;Dupont & Fiebelkorn, 2020), and environmental concerns (Chia et al., 2024;Circus & Robison, 2019). Emotional responses are also relevant (Pakseresht et al., 2022), particularly fear of unfamiliar technology (Dupont & Fiebelkorn, 2020), fear of unknown effects (Motoki et al., 2022;Wilks et al., 2019), and disgust sensitivity (Vural et al., 2023;. ...

Meat and morality: The moral foundation of purity, but not harm, predicts attitudes toward cultured meat
  • Citing Article
  • March 2024

Appetite

... In contrast, the second perspective suggests that organizational changes can strengthen identification, driven by employees' efforts to adapt to new norms and rules through social comparisons and information seeking (Bartels et al. 2006;Edwards et al. 2024;Elstak et al. 2015). SIMOC posits that employees are more likely to experience growth and positive outcomes when they can either maintain their existing organizational identity or form a new, meaningful one post-change. ...

Do Pre‐merger Loyalties Help or Hinder Post‐merger Retention? A Longitudinal Study
  • Citing Article
  • January 2024

British Journal of Management

... While identity leadership has generally been examined in the context of individual leaders (Haslam et al., 2020;Van Dick et al., 2018;Steffens et al., 2021), our research demonstrates its value for understanding the influence of environmental collectives like CEIs: These collectives can act as leaders in the sustainable energy transition by embodying and aligning with the shared identity of the local community in which they operate. Via such social identity processes, the sustainable actions of a minority can induce normative shifts and systemic change (Bolderdijk and Jans, 2021;Bingley et al., 2023). ...

Why a group-level analysis is essential for effective public policy: The case for a g-frame

Behavioral and Brain Sciences

... Each month, a team of psychologists conducted group therapy sessions with different themes. These themes ranged from guided meditations and the introduction of journaling to foster positive energy [30][31][32] through activities such as self-reflection and goal-setting techniques [32][33][34] using vision boards [35] to support personal growth and well-being. Additionally, participants who scored high on the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 at baseline (scores above 10, indicating moderate to severe anxiety and/or depression) received individual counseling from their assigned psychologist. ...

"The Secret" to Success? The Psychology of Belief in Manifestation

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

... Scholars have considered that the same general organisational characteristics that explain the good side of organisations can also explain their bad, that is, unethical, side (Durkheim, 1938). Existing research has identified factors such as trust (Bhattacharjee et al, 2017;Gillespie et al, 2023), reputation as a moral entity (Hornsey et al, 2021;Ruddle et al, 2023), the NGO virtue narrative (Dolšak and Prakash, 2022) to contribute to the creation of blind spots for NGO unethical behaviour. Other studies have looked at how NGOs construct narratives about their moral agency, such as through the symbolic power of the 'good glow' (Dean, 2020) and reputation (Krause, 2014;Giridharadas, 2018), to generate an external perception of NGO goodness, a perception that NGOs can then use to conceal their unethical behaviour. ...

How do Sector Level Factors Influence Trust Violations in Not-for-Profit Organizations? A Multilevel Model

Journal of Business Ethics

... Although many are familiar with MLM brands within beauty, household, and nutrition categories (e.g., Avon, Amway, Herbalife, etc.), the MLM model is pervasive across industries including energy and utilities, insurance services, travel services, sales and marketing services, among others, and one in 13 American adults participates, or has participated in, an MLM company (collectively referred to as MLMs; AARP, 2018). Despite its ubiquity, limited academic research (e.g., DeLiema et al., 2021;Dixon et al., 2023;Grant-Smith et al., 2021) exists on how individual differences predict participation in, and financial outcomes from, MLMs. This knowledge gap impedes the ability of marketers, policy makers, and consumer advocates in this important and prevalent domain. ...

The psychology of attraction to multi‐level marketing

Journal of Consumer Affairs

... To our knowledge, there is currently no comprehensive study eliciting knowledge for the crucial topic of risk Who can predict farmers' choices in risky gambles? 3 preferences in European agriculture (Iyer et al. 2020 ) which would provide insights into system-specific expertise and the potential impact of financial incentives on prediction improvement. Such knowledge would enhance our understanding of more specific expertise beyond social scientists' ability to predict social phenomena (Grossmann et al. 2023 ) and help farmers identify reliable sources of advice (Wuepper et al. 2021 ;Rust et al. 2022 ). ...

Insights into the accuracy of social scientists’ forecasts of societal change

Nature Human Behaviour