Social Psychological Bulletin
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Dating a Vegetarian? Perception of Masculinity, Attractiveness, and the Willingness to Date Vegetarians
No full textThe study examined how following a vegetarian diet affects the attractiveness of a potential dating partner among those who do not follow a vegetarian diet. Participants, 404 heterosexual meat-eaters, took part in an online experiment in which they evaluated the dating profile of a target person who was described as following a vegetarian diet for health, ethical, or environmental reasons, and a control condition that had no description of the target’s diet. Participants rated the target in terms of a feeling thermometer, willingness to date, gender congruence, and possession of masculine and feminine traits. Participant’s level of identification as a meat-eater was also measured. A series of two (participant gender) by four (target diet) ANOVAs found significant interactions in the analyses of the feeling thermometer ratings, showing that women viewed ethically motivated targets less positively than men did. We also found significant main effects of target diet in willingness to date, gender congruence, and possession of feminine and masculine traits. Meat-eaters evaluated targets with no diet information more positively than the health-motivated target. Controlling for identification as a meat-eater, women evaluated ethically-motivated targets as having less feminine traits than men did. The present results suggest that being a vegetarian makes a person less attractive as a potential partner among omnivores, who constitute the majority of people in most Western, industrialized countries
How Early Onset of COVID-19 Changed Vaccine-Related Attitudes: A Longitudinal Study
No full textThe paper investigates how the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the attitudes and beliefs of a previously anti-vaccine and vaccine-undecided population: how it changed their anti-vaccine beliefs and related arguments, perceptions of scientists’ credibility, as well as what their beliefs about COVID-19 are and what protective action they undertake against it. We used preexisting data from a 2018 study, where we identified groups of anti-vaccine and vaccine-undecided individuals (N = 365) whom we reached out to again in April/May 2020 (during the first months of the pandemic, when no COVID-19 vaccine was available). An online survey was used to measure changes in attitudes toward vaccination, reasons for vaccine rejection, attitudes toward scientists, and (at Measure 2) to measure attitudes toward COVID-19 and protective action against it. Results indicated a general pro-vaccine shift in attitudes, as well as reduced support for all anti-vaccine arguments. Surprisingly, we also found a negative shift in the sample’s perceptions of scientists’ agency and communion. Anti-vaccine individuals were also much less likely to employ any protective measures and had the lowest levels of fear associated with COVID-19. These results show that the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak caused a positive change in vaccine attitudes, especially in the vaccine-undecided group. At the same time, strongly anti-vaccine individuals were likely to reject protection against COVID
“Too Posh to Push?” Self-Stigmatization in Childbirth
No full textSelf-stigmatization after intervention-rich births (e.g., via C-section) is an anecdotally well-documented phenomenon. The aim of the present paper was to address this issue empirically. In doing so, we assessed 1,743 mothers who had required medical interventions to give birth and developed a psychometrically sound questionnaire—the Labor and Birth Self-Stigmatization Scale (LBS)—to measure birth-related self-stigmatization. We tested and confirmed the hypothesis that birth-related self-stigmatization was associated with a more negative birth experience, explaining incremental validity over, e.g., neuroticism and self-esteem. Results further revealed that the strongest, but not the only, predictor of self-stigmatization was having a C-section. Participants’ birth-related mindset moderated the negative correlation between self-stigmatization and birth experience, with a more natural mindset strengthening the negative association. The results of the present study illustrate the close association of birth and psychological factors and highlight the importance of studying and understanding self-stigmatization after childbirth
Correction of Nathan Vidal et al. (2023). Assessing the Reliability of an Infrared Thermography Protocol to Assess Cold-Induced Brown Adipose Tissue Activation in French Psychology Students
No full textCorrection to: Nathan Vidal et al. (2023). Assessing the Reliability of an Infrared Thermography Protocol to Assess Cold-Induced Brown Adipose Tissue Activation in French Psychology Student
Correction of Karolina Dyduch-Hazar and Mario Gollwitzer (2024). Feeling Bad About Feeling Good? How Avengers and Observers Evaluate the Hedonic Pleasure of Taking Revenge
No full textCorrection to: Dyduch-Hazar, K., & Gollwitzer, M. (2024). Feeling Bad About Feeling Good? How Avengers and Observers Evaluate the Hedonic Pleasure of Taking Revenge. Social Psychological Bulletin, 19, Article e12477. https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.1247
Being Critical Is Innovative: Constructive Patriotism and Collective Actions Are Related to Social Entrepreneurship Intentions
No full textSocial entrepreneurship, characterized by the development of innovative business solutions for sociocultural and environmental issues, has attracted the interest of psychologists in recent years. Previous work has highlighted the important role of personality and cognitive factors in understanding why individuals become social entrepreneurs. However, less attention has been dedicated to how different variables studied in the group processes literature relate to the formation of intentions toward social entrepreneurship. One possible approach to understanding psychological factors that correlate with social entrepreneurship intentions is the feeling of attachment to one's national group. Constructive patriotism, defined by the support for the ingroup through constructive criticism, shows stronger relations with progressivism and innovation than blind patriotism. We proposed that constructive patriotism, but not its blind counterpart, positively predicts social entrepreneurship intentions by increasing positive change collective action intentions. Two cross-sectional studies (N = 514) showed that constructive, but not blind patriotism, was positively related to social entrepreneurship intentions. Furthermore, constructive patriotism was related to social entrepreneurship intentions through greater levels of collective action intentions. The same mediational pattern did not hold when blind patriotism was considered a predictor of social entrepreneurship intentions. Specifically, being devoted to one's nation and questioning its harmful policies might predict social entrepreneurship intentions through stronger inclinations for social change actions
Willingness to Use Moral Reframing: Support Comes From Perceived Effectiveness, Opposition Comes From Integrity Concerns
No full textMoral reframing is a communication technique that involves persuading an audience to support an issue they typically oppose on ideological grounds by appealing to concepts and values that align with their moral concerns. Overall, previous research has found that moral reframing can encourage attitude change more so than non-reframed messages. One pending question, though, is whether people would or would not use this technique in the first place (e.g., because it requires embracing values that one might not endorse). This online study (N = 249) tested the willingness of US-based liberals to use a message appealing to conservative values (morally reframed), vs. one appealing to liberal values (not morally reframed), to persuade a hypothetical conservative audience to be more pro-environmental. Reasons behind message choice and feelings about both messages were measured. Results showed that most participants chose to use the morally reframed message (73%). This choice was justified by the message’s perceived effectiveness, while rejecting it was justified by the need to feel true to one’s own beliefs and values. However, regardless of actual message choice, participants overall reported more positive and less negative integrity feelings for the message that was not morally reframed
They Have a Point: Testing Strategies to Improve Receptivity to Interracial Criticism and Promote Behavioral Change
No full textPeople tend to be more resistant to criticism of their own group when it is given by outgroup members as opposed to ingroup members because they view the criticism as less constructive and legitimate when delivered by an outsider—a phenomenon known as the intergroup sensitivity effect, or ISE. The present study (N = 827) examines the effectiveness of two rhetorical techniques—balanced criticism (delivering criticism of one’s own group in addition to the target group) and buttering up (delivering praise alongside criticism) in reducing the ISE among European Americans, African Americans, and Latino Americans. The impact of criticism on intentions to engage in corrective behavior was also explored. Participants read a fictitious interview excerpt containing criticism of their racial group delivered by a racial ingroup or outgroup member and then rated the critic and their statement on several dimensions. We found buttering up reduces the ISE among European Americans and Latino Americans, but not African Americans, while critiquing one’s own racial group alongside the target group is ineffective in reducing the ISE for the three examined groups. Additionally, we found African Americans were more willing to engage in corrective behavior to address criticism directed toward their racial group than their European American or Latino American counterparts. However, contrary to previous research, the group membership of the critic did not affect participants’ willingness to engage in corrective action. These findings contribute to our understanding of interracial dynamics in the United States and illuminate how to facilitate interracial criticism
Correction of Paulina Banaszkiewicz (2022). Biological Sex and Psychological Gender Differences in the Experience and Expression of Romantic Jealousy
No full textCorrection to: Banaszkiewicz, P. (2022). Biological Sex and Psychological Gender Differences in the Experience and Expression of Romantic Jealousy. Social Psychological Bulletin, 17, Article e4161. https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.1046
Anticipated and Achieved Individual Mobility Amongst Portuguese Immigrants in Switzerland: Social Identity Adjustment and Inter-Minority Relations
No full textSocially mobile minority members (i.e., those who acquire a higher status membership) adjust their social identities, and eventually show negative attitudes towards minorities, as compared to non-mobile members. We examined whether these changes could be understood as the result of individual mobility achievements, or if they already occur at an earlier stage of the mobility process, when individuals are motivated and thus psychologically anticipate achieving mobility. In two studies, we looked at Portuguese immigrants in Switzerland (Ns = 180 and 241) at three mobility stages, that is, (1) Swiss naturalized Portuguese immigrants (socially mobile), (2) non-naturalized Portuguese who strongly wished to be naturalized (high anticipators), and (3) those who wished it less (low anticipators). First, we hypothesized a progressive assimilation to (distancing from) the Swiss (Portuguese) identity and culture (from the low anticipators to the high anticipators to the mobile). As expected, increasing levels of individual mobility were associated with stronger identification with Swiss identity and adoption of the Swiss culture. Conversely, increasing levels of individual mobility were associated with gradual distancing from the Portuguese culture, but against expectations, not with disidentification from the Portuguese identity. Second, we investigated how individual mobility stages were associated with a progressive deterioration of inter-minority relations. Results showed that increasing levels of individual mobility were not associated with more negative attitudes toward immigration (Study 1) but with less collective action intentions (Study 2). We discuss the consequences of anticipated and achieved individual mobility on asymmetric intergroup relations and support for social change