Associates
A social identity threat perspective on being the target of generosity from a higher status other
Gillian Sandstrom et al.
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, May 2019, Pages 98-114
Abstract:
Both giving and receiving money have emotional benefits, but when gifts of value are made in the context of socioeconomic differences, there might also be emotional costs. Four studies (and an internal meta-analysis) tested the idea that receiving a generous gift from someone higher in perceived socioeconomic status (SES) signals social identity threat. In Study 1 (N = 218), participants on average, but especially those with relatively lower SES, reported experiencing more self-conscious negative affect when receiving a generous amount of money (vs. an even split) from a higher status giver in a dictator game. This effect was mediated by feeling pitied by the giver. Studies 2 (N = 331) and 3 (N = 426) revealed similar effects with recalled real-world experiences of receiving a generous gift from higher SES givers. Studies 3 and 4 (N = 142) revealed evidence for serial mediation, with lower relative SES predicting status awareness, status awareness predicting attributions of pity, and attributions of pity in turn predicting self-conscious negative affect. Effects were not significantly moderated by needing or requesting the money, suggesting that acts of generosity across the status divide readily signal social devaluation for those with lower perceived status. Findings have practical and conceptual implications for prosocial giving in a system of social and economic inequality.
Adolescent Video Game Playing and Fighting over the Long-Term
Michael Ward
Contemporary Economic Policy, forthcoming
Abstract:
I present new evidence of the link between video game play and fighting. The General Learning Model predicts that increased aggression from playing violent video games. These predictions are tested using a large longitudinal data set tracking adolescents over time. Consistent with previous research, there is a positive raw correlation between video game playing as an adolescent and aggressive outcomes, in this case fights, even more than a decade later. However, multivariate and instrumental variables estimators do not find a causal relationship. Some implications are: support policy for further interventions is undermined, future research should be more careful about identification threats, and similar methodological approaches can be applied to the effects of other new communication technologies.
Food restriction and the experience of social isolation
Kaitlin Woolley, Ayelet Fishbach & Ronghan (Michelle) Wang
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Across 7 studies, food restrictions increased loneliness by limiting the ability to bond with others through similar food consumption. We first found that food restrictions predict loneliness using observer- and self-reports among children and adults (Studies 1–3). Next, we found mediation by the experience of worry and moderation by eating similar food as others. When restricted individuals were unable to bond over a meal (i.e., they ate different vs. the same food as others), they worried. These “food worries” mediated the effect of restrictions on loneliness (Studies 4 and 5). Moving to controlled experiments, manipulating the presence of a food restriction for unrestricted individuals increased reported loneliness (Study 6). This effect replicated in an experiment that capitalized on a naturally occurring food restriction — the holiday of Passover — where Jewish observers were restricted from eating chametz (leavened food; Study 7). Overall, while both food restrictions and loneliness are on the rise, this research found they may be related epidemics.
Fibbing about your feelings: How feigning happiness in the face of personal hardship affects trust
Emma Levine & Kristina Wald
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, forthcoming
Abstract:
Individuals who experience personal distress face a dilemma when they enter the workplace: should they authentically express their negative emotions when conversing with colleagues, or feign happiness? Across six experiments, using face-to-face interactions, as well as video and scenario-based stimuli, we explore how feigning happiness in the face of personal hardship affects trust among colleagues. We find that individuals who feign happiness in professional contexts are more likely to be hired and are trusted more by others, despite also being perceived as more dishonest. Our results suggest that these trust benefits are unique to professional (rather than personal) contexts, and are driven by perceptions of resilience, rather than conformity to display rules. This research deepens our understanding of emotion regulation, authenticity, and trust by exploring the consequences of feigned happiness in mixed motive settings and by demonstrating that emotional misrepresentation, unlike many other forms of misrepresentation, can increase trust.
Evaluations of affective stimuli modulated by another person’s presence and affiliative touch
Tanja Wingenbach et al.
Emotion, forthcoming
Abstract:
Affiliative touch carries affective meaning and affects the receiver. Although research demonstrates that receiving touch modulates the neural processing of emotions, its effects on evaluations of affective stimuli remain unexplored. The current research examined the effects of affiliative touch on the evaluation of affective images across 3 studies and aimed to disentangle the effect of another person’s mere presence from the addition of affiliative touch. Participants thus underwent experimental conditions of social manipulation (presence, alone) and touch manipulations (receiving, self-providing, providing to experimenter) while viewing affective images (negative, neutral, and positive valence) and evaluated their valence. Study 1 included hand-squeezing (N = 39), and Study 2 included forearm-stroking (N = 40) in a within-subjects design. Study 3 included hand-squeezing (N = 109) in a between-subjects design. Across both studies, the results suggested that the receiving condition decreased the negativity of negative images, and the providing condition reduced the positivity of positive images. Furthermore, the other presence condition increased the positivity of positive images compared with the alone condition in Study 1 and to the receiving condition in Study 2. Hand-squeezing and forearm-stroking had differential effects on affective image evaluations depending on the image valence and who provided the touch. Overall, receiving touch seems to attenuate negative evaluations in negative contexts and the presence of others amplifies positive evaluations in positive situations. Discussion highlights the importance of affiliative touch within social interactions.
The black sheep effect: The case of the deviant ingroup robot
Andrew Steain, Christopher John Stanton & Catherine Stevens
PLoS ONE, October 2019
Abstract:
The black sheep effect (BSE) describes the evaluative upgrading of norm-compliant group members (ingroup bias), and evaluative downgrading of deviant (norm-violating) group members, relative to similar outgroup members. While the BSE has been demonstrated extensively in human groups, it has yet to be shown in groups containing robots. This study investigated whether a BSE towards a ‘deviant’ robot (one low on warmth and competence) could be demonstrated. Participants performed a visual tracking task in a team with two humanoid NAO robots, with one robot being an ingroup member and the other an outgroup member. The robots offered advice to the participants which could be accepted or rejected, proving a measure of trust. Both robots were also evaluated using questionnaires, proxemics, and forced preference choices. Experiment 1 (N = 18) manipulated robot grouping to test our group manipulation generated ingroup bias (a necessary precursor to the BSE) which was supported. Experiment 2 (N = 72) manipulated the grouping, warmth and competence of both robots, predicting a BSE towards deviant ingroup robots, which was supported. Results indicated that a disagreeable ingroup robot is viewed less favourably than a disagreeable outgroup robot. Furthermore, when interacting with two independent robots, a “majority rule” effect can occur in which each robot’s opinion is treated as independent vote, with participants significantly more likely to trust two unanimously disagreeing robots. No effect of warmth was found. The impact of these findings for human-robot team composition are discussed.