When facing sacrificial dilemmas in which harm maximizes outcomes, people appear sensitive to three moral principles: They are more averse to actively causing harm than passively allowing it (action principle), causing harm directly than indirectly (contact principle), and causing harm as a means than as a by-product of helping others (intention principle). Across five studies and a meta-analysis (N

Humans are averse to both having less (i.e., disadvantageous inequity aversion [IA]) and having more than others (i.e., advantageous IA). However, the social-affective traits that drive individual differences in IA are not well understood. Here, by combining a modified dictator game and a computational model, we found in a sample of incarcerated adolescents (N = 67) that callous-unemotional traits

Negative social interactions have been linked to worse psychological health. However, individuals’ perceptions of negative interactions may depend on relational interdependent self-construal or how much they define the self in terms of their close relationships. The current analysis examined whether the effect of three different stressors on daily mood is moderated by having a relational self-construal

Dominant majority-group members living in areas with larger proportions of outgroup members tend to express more ingroup bias. However, prior research has rarely considered this in tandem with the bias-reducing effects of intergroup contact or tested whether outgroup proportions have similar effects for oppressed minority-group members. In two preregistered studies, we tested whether contact moderates

People prefer brands whose perceived image reflects their own psychological profile, a finding referred to as the self-brand congruity effect. For the first time, we test this effect in the field by utilizing over 17,000 real bank transaction records (Study 1, N = 405). We demonstrate that the strength of self-brand congruity is related to the financial resources a person must spend to acquire the

There is more than one pathway to romance, but relationship science does not reflect this reality. Our research reveals that relationship initiation studies published in popular journals (Study 1) and cited in popular textbooks (Study 2) overwhelmingly focus on romance that sparks between strangers and largely overlook romance that develops between friends. This limited focus might be justified if

Psychology research from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) countries, especially from the United States, receives more scientific attention than research from non-WEIRD countries. We investigate one structural way that this inequality might be enacted: mentioning the sample's country in the article title. Analyzing the current publication practice of four leading social

Prior research has found an association between pride experiences and social rank outcomes. However, the causal direction of this relationship remains unclear. The current research used a longitudinal design (N = 1,653) to investigate whether pride experiences are likely to be a cause, consequence, or both, of social rank outcomes, by tracking changes in individuals’ pride and social rank over time

Three studies examined the relationship between emotions and moral judgment from an interpersonal perspective. In Studies 1 and 2, participants justified their decisions in sacrificial dilemmas to an imagined interlocutor. Linguistic analyses revealed that Don’t Sacrifice justifications contained more anger-related language than sadness-related language, whereas Sacrifice justifications contained roughly

In an effort to combat COVID-19 and future pandemics, researchers have attempted to identify the factors underlying social distancing. Yet, much of this research relies on self-report measures. In two studies, we examine whether self-reported social distancing predicts objective distancing behavior. In Study 1, individuals’ self-reported social distancing predicted decreased mobility (assessed via

The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique climate for examining the links between stressful conditions and couples’ relationship well-being. According to theories of stress spillover, stressors originating outside the relationship, such as work stress and financial uncertainty, often undermine relationship quality. However, if individuals can easily attribute their problems to the stressful circumstances

We examined whether an expected future activity (exercise vs. relaxation) impacts a present behavior (performance on an intellectual task) that occurs prior to this activity. Across two experiments (n = 320 and n = 466), the influence of expected exercise compared to relaxation on present intellectual performance was moderated by general self-efficacy (GSE)—a core personality trait that determines

The COVID-19 pandemic has had immense impact on people’s lives, potentially leading individuals to reevaluate what they prioritize in life (i.e., their values). We report longitudinal data from Australians 3 years prior to the pandemic, at pandemic onset (April 2020, N = 2,321), and in November–December 2020 (n = 1,442). While all higher order values were stable prior to the pandemic, conservation

Across five studies (three preregistered; N = 2,481), we investigated two effects as follows: (1) Is higher subjective economic inequality associated with a decreased ability to accurately identify emotions (emotional intelligence)? When inequality is high, people are less focused on others and may thus be less motivated to correctly identify their emotions. (2) Is this main effect of subjective inequality

Do women and men differ in their brokering behavior? Integrating the literatures on gender, self-construal, and social networks, we theorize that gender differences in relational interdependence produce different patterns of helpful brokering among women versus men. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that tie strength moderates the effect of gender on two types of helpful brokering: helping others

In one large-scale experiment using U.S. respondents on Mechanical Turk (N = 2,899), we studied how subtle differences in framing and context impacted estimates of the Black–White wealth gap. Across our 10 different experimental manipulations of framing and context, respondents consistently overestimated Black family wealth relative to White wealth. There was also substantial variation in the magnitude

People exhibit impaired recall for highly self-threatening information that describes them, a phenomenon called the mnemic neglect effect (MNE). We hypothesized that the MNE extends to recall for information that highly threatens an individual’s important in-group identity. We tested our hypothesis in two experiments in which participants read behaviors depicted as enacted by either in-group members

Lammers, J., & and Imhoff, R. A Chronic Lack of Perceived Personal Control Increases Women and Men’s Self-Reported Preference for High-Status Characteristics When Selecting Romantic Partners in Simulated Dating Situations. Social Psychological and Personality Science. Epub ahead of print 18 May 2021. DOI: 10.1177/19485506211016309

Previous studies suggested that people feel better after revenge taking, while other studies showed that they feel worse. The interpretation of this research is however ambiguous due to its extensive reliance on self-report measures. The present research examined spontaneous affective responses after retaliatory punishments in a laboratory task using an indirect measure of affect (affect misattribution

Anti-migrant policies at the U.S. southern border have resulted in the separation and long-term internment of thousands of migrant children and the deaths of many migrants. What leads people to support such harsh policies? Here we examine the role of two prominent psychological factors—empathy and dehumanization. In Studies 1 and 2, we find that empathy and dehumanization are strong, independent predictors

Similarity within romantic couples forms one component of the formation and maintenance of relationships, meaning that, romantic partners’ views about themselves and the world are theorized to converge over time. We advance prior research on romantic couple similarities using cross-sectional or time-lagged designs, testing convergence with dyadic trajectories of change—how changes in one person relate

We examined the effectiveness of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) of the theory of planned behavior on COVID-19 relevant behavioral intentions and behaviors. We conducted a meta-analysis of 335 effect sizes from 83 samples across 31 countries (N = 68,592). We found strongest effects for PBC, but contrary to previous research also moderately strong effects of subjective

Some people tend to be especially accurate about the personality impressions they make, but is meta-accuracy a consistent tendency that spans levels of acquaintanceship, or is it only observed within levels of acquaintanceship? Three studies suggested that meta-accuracy is consistent among close others but not across new acquaintances and close others. This pattern was observed for observable and unobservable

The present research proposes and tests the “hedonic risk hypothesis” that affective experiences of pleasure provide a common currency that people use to equate economic and hedonic inequality. As a result, economic inequality can increase risk-taking in pursuit of pleasure even in noneconomic domains. Study 1 showed that higher economic inequality at the state level was associated with people in those

Elections and pandemics highlight how much one’s safety depends on fellow community members, a realization that is especially threatening when this collective perceives political realities inconsistent with one’s own. Two longitudinal studies examined how people restored safety to social bonds when everyday experience suggested that fellow community members inhabited inconsistent realities. We operationalized

The question what people desire in their romantic partner has hitherto been dominated by a focus on gender. It has been repeatedly found that, when asked what they find important in selecting a partner, women indicate that they find status more important compared to men. Across five studies, we move beyond gender and base ourselves on general theories of control deprivation to test the effect of differences

Under what circumstances do people adopt a choice mindset? Three studies (two preregistered) tested whether higher power leads people to construe others as having more choice. When power was either measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Studies 2 and 3), high-power perceivers viewed others, even low-power others (Study 3), as having more choice than did low-power perceivers. Consequently, high-power individuals

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

What factors influence how accurately we express our personalities? Here, we investigated the role of targets’ nonverbal expressivity or the intrapersonal coordination between head and body movements. To do so, using a novel movement quantification method, we examined whether variability in a person’s behavioral coordination was related to how accurately their personality was perceived by naive observers

“You must stay at home!” This is how the UK Prime Minister announced lockdown in March 2020. Many countries implemented similarly assertive messages. Research, however, suggests that authoritative language can backfire by inciting psychological reactance (i.e., feelings of anger arising from threats to one’s autonomy). In a series of three studies, we therefore tested whether commanding versus control

Organizations often put children front and center in campaigns to elicit interest and support for prosocial causes. Such initiatives raise a key theoretical and applied question that has yet to be addressed directly: Does the salience of children increase prosocial motivation and behavior in adults? We present findings aggregated across eight experiments involving 2,054 adult participants: Prosocial

We examined whether, even at zero acquaintance, observers accurately infer others’ social network positions—specifically, the number and patterning of social ties (e.g., brokerage—the extent to which a person bridges disconnected people) and the trait impressions that support this accuracy. We paired social network data (n = 272 professional school students), with naive observers’ (n = 301 undergraduates)

Individuals and institutions around the world have been affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Herein, we investigate the role of basic (Big Five and HEXACO) and specific (Dark Factor of Personality, Narcissistic Rivalry, and Narcissistic Admiration) personality traits for 17 criteria related to COVID-19, grouped into (i) personal perceptions in terms of risks and worries about the disease

Guided by theory emphasizing that partner responsiveness underlies well-functioning romantic relationships, we examined whether partners’ responsive behavior buffered the degree to which a personal vulnerability (depressive symptoms) and external stress predicted declines in relationship adjustment. Using an existing data set, we tested whether individuals’ depressive symptoms and stress interacted

Preventive behaviors are crucial to prevent the spread of the coronavirus causing COVID-19. We adopted a complex psychological systems approach to obtain a descriptive account of the network of attitudes and behaviors related to COVID-19. A survey study (N = 1,022) was conducted with subsamples from the United Kingdom (n = 502) and the Netherlands (n = 520). The results highlight the importance of

During COVID-19, conspiracy theories were intensely discussed in the media. Generally, both believing in conspiracy theories (i.e., explanations for events based on powerholders’ secret arrangements) and being confronted with a conspiracy theory have been found to predict cognition and behavior with negative societal effects, such as low institutional trust. Accordingly, believing in conspiracy theories

People learn by observing others, albeit not uniformly. Witnessing an immoral behavior causes observers to commit immoral actions, especially when the perpetrator is part of the in-group. Does conformist behavior hold when observing the out-group? We conducted three experiments (N = 1,358) exploring how observing an (im)moral in-/out-group member changed decisions relating to justice: punitive, selfish

The current study utilizes the current COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the importance of accounting for the influence of external political and economic factors in personality public health research. We investigated the extent to which systemic factors modify the relationship between personality and pandemic response. Results shed doubt on the cross-cultural generalizability of common Big Five factor

Trust is the social glue that holds society together. The academic consensus is that trust is weaker among lower-class individuals and in unequal regions/countries, which is often considered a threat to a healthy society. However, existing studies are inconsistent and have two limitations: (i) variability in the measurement of social class and (ii) small numbers of higher level units (regions/countries)

This research investigated cross-cultural differences in strategic risky decisions in baseball—among professional baseball teams in North America and Japan (Study 1) and among baseball fans in the United States and Japan (Study 2—preregistered). Study 1 analyzed archival data from professional baseball leagues and demonstrated that outcomes reflecting high risk-high payoff strategies were more prevalent

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose an unprecedented challenge for the world as people strive to cope with this significant threat to their well-being. This intensive longitudinal study of the first 94 days of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea (Phase 1: initial outbreak, Phase 2: intense social distancing) examined individuals’ changes in well-being, in relation to their use of coping strategies

Development of an effective COVID-19 vaccine is widely considered as one of the best paths to ending the current health crisis. While the ability to distribute a vaccine in the short-term remains uncertain, the availability of a vaccine alone will not be sufficient to stop disease spread. Instead, policy makers will need to overcome the additional hurdle of rapid widespread adoption. In a large-scale

Economic inequality has been associated with a host of social ills, but most research has focused on objective measures of inequality. We argue that economic inequality also has a subjective component, and understanding the effects of economic inequality will be deepened by considering the ways that people perceive inequality. In an American sample (N = 1,014), we find that some of the key variables

Widespread religious disbelief represents a key testing ground for theories of religion. We evaluated the predictions of three prominent theoretical approaches—secularization, cognitive byproduct, and dual inheritance—in a nationally representative (United States, N = 1,417) data set with preregistered analyses and found considerable support for the dual inheritance perspective. Of key predictors of

Prior research indicated that lack of power leads to emotional suppression and low emotional expression during conflicts among strangers. However, little is known about how power affects emotional inhibition in close relationships, where partners are highly interdependent, and achieving one’s goals greatly depends on their partner’s cooperation. In three studies among romantic couples (total N = 994)

Undergraduate participants described their experience of an ordinary situation before (N = 544) and during (N = 123) a COVID-19 shelter-at-home period using the Riverside Situational Q-sort (RSQ). They also rated the experience’s positivity and completed a Big Five Personality Inventory. RSQ items placed higher before the sheltering period included “new relationships could develop,” “femininity can

The current study used longitudinal panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79; n = 7,064) and National Longitudinal Survey of Young Adults (NLSY-YA; n = 2,985) to examine whether political party affiliation was related to residential mobility between rural regions, urban regions, and major cities in the United States. Over a follow-up of 4–6 years, stronger Republican affiliation

Collective action is a key driver of social and political change within societies. So far, the main factor mobilizing individuals into collective action remains the extent to which they feel identified with a protesting group (i.e., social identification). Although the link between social identification and collective action is well-established, current evidence relies mostly on self-report data. To

Heavier bodies—particularly female bodies—are stigmatized. Such fat stigma is pervasive, painful to experience, and may even facilitate weight gain, thereby perpetuating the weight-stigma cycle. Leveraging research on functionally distinct forms of fat (deposited on different parts of the body), we propose that body shape plays an important but largely underappreciated role in fat stigma, above and

The COVID-19 pandemic presents acute, ongoing relationship challenges. The current research tested how (1) preexisting vulnerabilities assessed prior to the pandemic (attachment insecurity) and (2) stress as couples endured a mandated quarantine predicted residual changes in relationship functioning. Controlling for prequarantine problems, relationship quality, and family environment, greater partners’

Despite the many important considerations relevant to selecting a leader, facial appearance carries surprising sway. Following numerous studies documenting the role of facial appearance in government elections, we investigated differences in perceptions of dictators versus democratically elected leaders. Participants in Study 1 successfully classified pictures of 160 world leaders as democrats or dictators

The cultural–ecological moderation hypothesis suggests that the importance of physical attractiveness (PA) for life outcomes is particularly pronounced in settings that afford constructions of the relationship as the product of choice. The current work addresses an ambiguity in earlier research that documented a cultural–ecological moderation effect on expectations about life outcomes of attractive

The current research investigates people’s attitudes toward an ambiguous situation of police violence against a woman suspect. We hypothesize that the suspect’s race and participants’ ambivalent sexism, particularly benevolent sexism, will jointly inform perceptions of the suspect’s femininity, and in turn, perceptions of the suspect’s pain, judgments of who is to blame, and perceptions the officer

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presented policymakers with the need to change people’s behavior in a fundamental way and for an extended period of time. Changing habits is difficult and requires sustained effort, and sustaining effort is especially difficult when it does not seem to yield conspicuous results. The COVID-19 pandemic presented exactly this difficulty, as numbers of infected

Gender stereotypes are widely shared “collective representations” that link gender groups (e.g., male/female) with roles or attributes (e.g., career/family, science/arts). Such collective stereotypes, especially implicit stereotypes, are assumed to be so deeply embedded in society that they are resistant to change. Yet over the past several decades, shifts in real-world gender roles suggest the possibility

Romantic relationships activate a process of psychological attunement whereby self-esteem becomes responsive to the romantic bond, thereby potentially benefitting relationship quality and bolstering self-esteem. Yet some people are romantically single, raising the question: Do single people also exhibit psychological attunement? In a 2-year longitudinal study of young adults (N = 279), we test whether