Sociable
The Pursuit of Happiness: Time, Money, and Social Connection
Cassie Mogilner
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Does thinking about time, rather than money, influence how effectively individuals pursue personal happiness? Laboratory and field experiments revealed that implicitly activating the construct of time motivates individuals to spend more time with friends and family and less time working - behaviors that are associated with greater happiness. In contrast, implicitly activating money motivates individuals to work more and socialize less, which (although productive) does not increase happiness. Implications for the relative roles of time versus money in the pursuit of happiness are discussed.
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Real and perceived attitude agreement in social networks
Sharad Goel, Winter Mason & Duncan Watts
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
It is often asserted that friends and acquaintances have more similar beliefs and attitudes than do strangers; yet empirical studies disagree over exactly how much diversity of opinion exists within local social networks and, relatedly, how much awareness individuals have of their neighbors' views. This article reports results from a network survey, conducted on the Facebook social networking platform, in which participants were asked about their own political attitudes, as well as their beliefs about their friends' attitudes. Although considerable attitude similarity exists among friends, the results show that friends disagree more than they think they do. In particular, friends are typically unaware of their disagreements, even when they say they discuss the topic, suggesting that discussion is not the primary means by which friends infer each other's views on particular issues. Rather, it appears that respondents infer opinions in part by relying on stereotypes of their friends and in part by projecting their own views. The resulting gap between real and perceived agreement may have implications for the dynamics of political polarization and theories of social influence in general.
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Can Cultural Worldviews Influence Network Composition?
Stephen Vaisey & Omar Lizardo
Social Forces, June 2010, Pages 1595-1618
Abstract:
Most sociological research assumes that social network composition shapes individual beliefs. Network theory and research has not adequately considered that internalized cultural worldviews might affect network composition. Drawing on a synthetic, dual-process theory of culture and two waves of nationally-representative panel data, this article shows that worldviews are strong predictors of changes in network composition among U.S. youth. These effects are robust to the influence of other structural factors, including prior network composition and behavioral homophily. By contrast, there is little evidence that networks play a strong proximate role in shaping worldviews. This suggests that internalized cultural dispositions play an important role in shaping the interpersonal environment and that the dynamic link between culture and social structure needs to be reconsidered.
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Ithai Stern & James Westphal
Administrative Science Quarterly, June 2010, Pages 278-319
Abstract:
Drawing from theory and research on interpersonal attraction, as well as interviews with 42 directors of large U.S. industrial and service firms, we identified a set of social influence tactics that are less likely to be interpreted by the influence target as manipulative or political in intent and are therefore more likely to engender social influence. We consider who among top managers and directors of large firms is most likely to exercise such tactics and how their use affects the likelihood of garnering board appointments at other firms. An analysis of survey data on interpersonal influence behavior from a large sample of managers and chief executive officers (CEOs) at Forbes 500 companies strongly supports our theoretical arguments: managers' and directors' ingratiatory behavior toward colleagues is more likely to yield board appointments at other firms to the extent that it comprises relatively subtle forms of flattery and opinion conformity, which our theory suggests are less likely to elicit cynical attributions of motive. Supplementary analyses also indicate that these relationships are mediated by an increased likelihood of receiving a colleague's recommendation for the appointment. Moreover, we theorize and find that managers and directors who have a background in politics, law, or sales, or an upper-class background, are more sophisticated and successful in their ingratiatory behavior.
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Temperature perceptions as a ground for social proximity
Hans IJzerman & Gün Semin
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Literature in interpersonal relations has described the sense of intimacy towards others in terms of physical closeness and warmth. Research suggests that these descriptions should be taken literally. Past work (IJzerman & Semin, 2009) revealed that temperature alterations affect the construal of social relations. Lakoff and Johnson (1999) suggest that such findings are unidirectional. However, recent research indicates that the recollection of social exclusion induces perceptions of lower temperature (Zhong & Leonardelli, 2008). In this work, we elaborate on these findings to provide new insights into processes central to interpersonal relations. In four studies, we hypothesized and found that actual physically induced experiences of proximity not only increase feelings of social proximity but more importantly perceptions of higher temperature. Moreover, we show that verbally induced social proximity also induce perceptions of higher temperature. The broader implications of these findings for interpersonal relations are discussed.
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Physical temperature effects on trust behavior: The role of insula
Yoona Kang, Lawrence Williams, Margaret Clark, Jeremy Gray & John Bargh
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, forthcoming
Abstract:
Trust lies at the heart of person perception and interpersonal decision making. In two studies, we investigated physical temperature as one factor that can influence human trust behavior, and the insula as a possible neural substrate. Participants briefly touched either a cold or warm pack, and then played an economic trust game. Those primed with cold invested less with an anonymous partner, revealing lesser interpersonal trust, as compared to those who touched a warm pack. In Study 2, we examined neural activity during trust-related processes after a temperature manipulation using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The left-anterior insular region activated more strongly than baseline only when the trust decision was preceded by touching a cold pack, and not a warm pack. In addition, greater activation within bilateral insula was identified during the decision phase followed by a cold manipulation, contrasted to warm. These results suggest that the insula may be a key shared neural substrate that mediates the influence of temperature on trust processes.
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Good for Nothing? Number of Siblings and Friendship Nominations Among Adolescents
Donna Bobbitt-Zeher & Douglas Downey
Ohio State University Working Paper, August 2010
Abstract:
Most social science research shows little benefit to siblings. The most prominent example is the consistent negative correlation between sibship size and educational outcomes. But more recent work among kindergartners uncovered a potentially positive outcome - greater social skills - at least for those who have at least one versus no siblings. We extend this line of inquiry to adolescence, when peer relationships are more developed, to see if there are long-term negative consequences of growing up without any siblings. Analyzing 14,319 youths from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we find no evidence that only children receive fewer peer nominations of friendship than youths with one (or more than one) sibling(s). Our results suggest that the previously observed social skills deficit among only children in kindergarten appears to be overcome by adolescence.
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Nathan Berg, Ulrich Hoffrage & Katarzyna Abramczuk
Judgment and Decision Making, August 2010, Pages 391-410
Abstract:
Schelling (1969, 1971a,b, 1978) observed that macro-level patterns do not necessarily reflect micro-level intentions, desires or goals. In his classic model on neighborhood segregation which initiated a large and influential literature, individuals with no desire to be segregated from those who belong to other social groups nevertheless wind up clustering with their own type. Most extensions of Schelling's model have replicated this result. There is an important mismatch, however, between theory and observation, which has received relatively little attention. Whereas Schelling-inspired models typically predict large degrees of segregation starting from virtually any initial condition, the empirical literature documents considerable heterogeneity in measured levels of segregation. This paper introduces a mechanism that can produce significantly higher levels of integration and, therefore, brings predicted distributions of segregation more in line with real-world observation. As in the classic Schelling model, agents in a simulated world want to stay or move to a new location depending on the proportion of neighbors they judge to be acceptable. In contrast to the classic model, agents' classifications of their neighbors as acceptable or not depend lexicographically on recognition first and group type (e.g., ethnic stereotyping) second. The FACE-recognition model nests classic Schelling: When agents have no recognition memory, judgments about the acceptability of a prospective neighbor rely solely on his or her group type (as in the Schelling model). A very small amount of recognition memory, however, eventually leads to different classifications that, in turn, produce dramatic macro-level effects resulting in significantly higher levels of integration. A novel implication of the FACE-recognition model concerns the large potential impact of policy interventions that generate modest numbers of face-to-face encounters with members of other social groups.
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Civic Community and Nonmetropolitan White Suicide
Anna Cutlip, William Bankston & Matthew Lee
Archives of Suicide Research, July 2010, Pages 261-265
Abstract:
This study analyzes whether rural White suicide rates are lower where civic participation is strong and where a strong social institutional structure exists. Negative binomial regression analyses of race/sex/age disaggregated suicide regressed on indices of civic community are conducted for a sample of more than 1400 nonmetropolitan counties. White male and female suicide rates are for the most part substantially lower in civically stronger communities. The pattern is evident for both younger and older age groups. Civically strong communities provide some insulation against structural sources of suicide, and public health officials should consider the civic infrastructure of communities when planning community level suicide intervention/prevention strategies.
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Forgiveness and the Need to Belong
Collin Barnes, Mauricio Carvallo, Ryan Brown & Lindsey Osterman
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, September 2010, Pages 1148-1160
Abstract:
People who experience a strong need to belong might be particularly inclined to forgive wrongdoings to preserve social bonds. Three studies that utilized different methods and measures of forgiveness consistently demonstrated this is not the case. The authors found that individuals high in the need to belong report practicing forgiveness with less frequency and value it no more than those low in the need to belong (Study 1). In Study 2, they found that satisfying the need to belong led participants to express greater willingness to forgive hypothetical offenses compared to participants in a control group. Finally, in Study 3, the authors linked the need to belong to forgiveness of specific transgressions and found that this negative relationship was mediated by offense-related anger and perceptions of offense severity. These findings suggest that needing to belong paradoxically interferes with forgiveness, even though forgiving could promote the satisfaction of belongingness needs following transgressions.
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Joint music making promotes prosocial behavior in 4-year-old children
Sebastian Kirschner & Michael Tomasello
Evolution and Human Behavior, September 2010, Pages 354-364
Abstract:
Humans are the only primates that make music. But the evolutionary origins and functions of music are unclear. Given that in traditional cultures music making and dancing are often integral parts of important group ceremonies such as initiation rites, weddings or preparations for battle, one hypothesis is that music evolved into a tool that fosters social bonding and group cohesion, ultimately increasing prosocial in-group behavior and cooperation. Here we provide support for this hypothesis by showing that joint music making among 4-year-old children increases subsequent spontaneous cooperative and helpful behavior, relative to a carefully matched control condition with the same level of social and linguistic interaction but no music. Among other functional mechanisms, we propose that music making, including joint singing and dancing, encourages the participants to keep a constant audiovisual representation of the collective intention and shared goal of vocalizing and moving together in time - thereby effectively satisfying the intrinsic human desire to share emotions, experiences and activities with others.
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Do Social Connections Reduce Moral Hazard? Evidence from the New York City Taxi Industry
Kirabo Jackson & Henry Schneider
NBER Working Paper, August 2010
Abstract:
This study investigates the role of social networks in aligning the incentives of economic agents in settings with incomplete contracts. We study the New York City taxi industry where taxis are often leased and lessee-drivers have worse driving outcomes than owner-drivers as a result of a moral hazard associated with incomplete leasing contracts. Using instrumental variables and fixed-effects analyses, we find that: (1) drivers leasing from members of their country-of-birth community exhibit significantly reduced effects of moral hazard; (2) network effects appear to operate primarily via social sanctions; and (3) network benefits can help to explain the organization of the industry in terms of which drivers and owners form business relationships.
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Determining Influential Users in Internet Social Networks
Michael Trusov, Anand Bodapati & Randolph Bucklin
Journal of Marketing Research, August 2010, Pages 643-658
Abstract:
The success of Internet social networking sites depends on the number and activity levels of their user members. Although users typically have numerous connections to other site members (i.e., "friends"), only a fraction of those so-called friends may actually influence a member's site usage. Because the influence of potentially hundreds of friends needs to be evaluated for each user, inferring precisely who is influential-and, therefore, of managerial interest for advertising targeting and retention efforts-is difficult. The authors develop an approach to determine which users have significant effects on the activities of others using the longitudinal records of members' log-in activity. They propose a nonstandard form of Bayesian shrinkage implemented in a Poisson regression. Instead of shrinking across panelists, strength is pooled across variables within the model for each user. The approach identifies the specific users who most influence others' activity and does so considerably better than simpler alternatives. For the social networking site data, the authors find that, on average, approximately one-fifth of a user's friends actually influence his or her activity level on the site.
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Lisa Jaremka, Shira Gabriel & Mauricio Carvallo
Self and Identity, forthcoming
Abstract:
Four studies examined the hypothesis that intense emotional experiences are more often centered on interdependent than independent experiences. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that when asked to write about emotionally intense events, participants were more likely to write about interdependent than independent experiences. Study 3 provided evidence that these effects were not due to recall effects based on mere exposure. Finally, Study 4 demonstrated that when asked to write about the most positive and negative interdependent and independent experiences of their lives and then rate their impact, participants were more likely to indicate that interdependent experiences had more emotional impact than independent experiences. Study 4 also provided evidence that the extent to which an experience fostered belonging motivations predicted the emotional impact of that event. Implications of the current research in terms of the need to belong and research on motivation and appraisal theories of emotion are discussed.
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Michail Kozlov & Mark Johansen
Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, forthcoming
Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to illustrate the broad usefulness of simple video-game-based virtual environments (VEs) for psychological research on real-world behavior. To this end, this research explored several high-level social phenomena in a simple, inexpensive computer-game environment: the reduced likelihood of helping under time pressure and the bystander effect, which is reduced helping in the presence of bystanders. In the first experiment, participants had to find the exit in a virtual labyrinth under either high or low time pressure. They encountered rooms with and without virtual bystanders, and in each room, a virtual person requested assistance. Participants helped significantly less frequently under time pressure but the presence/absence of a small number of bystanders did not significantly moderate helping. The second experiment increased the number of virtual bystanders, and participants were instructed to imagine that these were real people. Participants helped significantly less in rooms with large numbers of bystanders compared to rooms with no bystanders, thus demonstrating a bystander effect. These results indicate that even sophisticated high-level social behaviors can be observed and experimentally manipulated in simple VEs, thus implying the broad usefulness of this paradigm in psychological research as a good compromise between experimental control and ecological validity.
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Anti-social punishment can prevent the co-evolution of punishment and cooperation
David Rand, Joseph Armao, Mayuko Nakamaru & Hisashi Ohtsuki
Journal of Theoretical Biology, 21 August 2010, Pages 624-632
Abstract:
The evolution of cooperation is one of the great puzzles in evolutionary biology. Punishment has been suggested as one solution to this problem. Here punishment is generally defined as incurring a cost to inflict harm on a wrong-doer. In the presence of punishers, cooperators can gain higher payoffs than non-cooperators. Therefore cooperation may evolve as long as punishment is prevalent in the population. Theoretical models have revealed that spatial structure can favor the co-evolution of punishment and cooperation, by allowing individuals to only play and compete with those in their immediate neighborhood. However, those models have usually assumed that punishment is always targeted at non-cooperators. In light of recent empirical evidence of punishment targeted at cooperators, we relax this assumption and study the effect of so-called ‘anti-social punishment'. We find that evolution can favor anti-social punishment, and that when anti-social punishment is possible costly punishment no longer promotes cooperation. As there is no reason to assume that cooperators cannot be the target of punishment during evolution, our results demonstrate serious restrictions on the ability of costly punishment to allow the evolution of cooperation in spatially structured populations. Our results also help to make sense of the empirical observation that defectors will sometimes pay to punish cooperators.