Social Psychological Bulletin
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Hits and Misses in the Last Decade of Open Science: Researchers From Different Subfields and Career Stages Offer Personal Reflections and Suggestions
No full textThe success of Open Science in addressing the replication crisis and restoring credibility in psychology can be understood more completely by examining the successes and challenges of adapting the recommended best practices by researchers at different types of institutions, different career stages, and from different subfields within social and personality psychology. In this article, we offer personal reflections about the impact and future of the Open Science movement in a conversational form between three researchers at varying career stages who focus on different subdisciplines (relationship science, diversity science, and social neuroscience and social cognition) and work at universities that place a different emphasis on research (relative to teaching and service). We see many successes of the open science movement, but we also note that implementation has trailed behind its full potential because (a) the incentive structures of our existing rigid system remain misaligned with some open-science goals, and (b) some open science solutions were designed by researchers with certain types of scientific practices in mind. We all feel encouraged by the focus on larger samples, greater data sharing, and pre-registration both for experimental design and analytical decisions. However, there are areas that need attention. Our perspective is that the open science movement has not been as strong of an ally as it could be to another goal of psychological science: increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Additionally, more careful consideration of how to facilitate data sharing and pre-registration is needed and may necessitate a shift in the incentive structure of our field
On the Importance of Modeling the Invisible World of Underlying Effect Sizes
No full textThe headline findings from the Open Science Collaboration (2015)―namely, that 36% of original experiments replicated at p < .05, with the overall replication effect sizes being half as large as the original effects―cannot be meaningfully interpreted without a formal model. A simple model-based approach might ask: what would the state of original science be and what would replication results show if original experiments tested true effects half the time (prior odds = 1), true effects had a medium effect size (Cohen’s δ = 0.50), and power to detect true effects was 50%? Assuming no questionable research practices, 91% of p < .05 findings in the original literature would be true positives. However, only 58% of original p < .05 findings would be expected to replicate using the Open Science Collaboration approach, and the replication effects overall would be only ~60% as large as the original effects. A minor variant of this model yields an expected replication rate of only 45%, with overall replication effect sizes dropping by half. If the state of original science is as grim as a non-model-based (i.e., intuitive) interpretation of the Open Science Collaboration data suggests, should it be this easy to largely account for those findings using a model in which 91% of statistically significant findings in the original science literature are true positives? Claims that the findings reported by the Open Science Collaboration indicate a replication crisis should not be based solely on intuition but should instead be accompanied by a specific model that supports that interpretation
A Single Item Measure of Self-Control – Validation and Location in a Nomological Network of Self-Control, Boredom, and If-Then Planning
No full textSelf-control is a highly adaptive human capacity and research on self-control is booming. To further facilitate self-control research, especially in conditions where time-constraints might render the use of multi-item measures of self-control problematic, a validated time-efficient single item measure would be an asset. However, such a measure has not yet been developed and tested. Here, we address this gap by reporting the psychometric properties of a single item measure of self-control and by assessing its localization within a larger theorized psychometric network consisting of self-control, boredom and if-then planning. In a high-powered (N = 1553) study with paid online workers from the US (gender: 47.3% female, 51.7% male, 1% other; age: 40.36 ± 12.65 years), we found evidence for the convergent validity (Brief Self-Control Scale), divergent validity (Short Boredom Proneness Scale and If-Then Planning Scale), and criterion validity (objective and subjective socio-economic status) of the single item measure of self-control (“How much self-control do you have?”). Network psychometrics further revealed that the single item was part of the self-control subnetwork and clearly distinguishable from boredom and if-then planning, which together with self-control form a larger psychometric network of psychological dispositions that are relevant for orienting goal directed behavior. Thus, the present findings indicate that self-control can be adequately captured with the single item measure presented here, thereby extending the methodological toolbox of self-control researchers by a highly-time efficient measure
Agency and Communion as Fundamental Dimensions of Social Judgment – and Bogdan Wojciszke’s Brilliant Idea on Perspective
No full textThe fundamental dimensions of social judgment and social evaluation, called agency and communion, are overarching constructs in many fields of psychology. Agency is related to goal-striving and “getting ahead”, communion is related to forming bonds and “getting along”. These dimensions are used both to interpret behaviors, and to evaluate targets. Bogdan Wojciszke was the first to relate these dimensions to perspective, and to show that the perspective of an actor is more closely related to agency, whereas the perspective of an observer is more closely related to communion. The “Dual Perspective Model” combines the fundamental dimensions of social judgment and evaluation with perspective and leads to a number of far-reaching hypotheses on social interactions. The model has inspired research in diverse areas of psychology, such as evaluation of brands, stereotypes of groups, evaluation of political leaders, gender research, social desirability research, self-evaluation, bodily posture in social interaction, to name just a few. It has been further developed to a broad-ranging theory applicable to many phenomena in (social) psychology. Bogdan Wojciszke lives his ideals and it is a pleasure and an honor to cooperate with him
Social Position and Personal Versus Social Focus: A Multinational Study of Managerial Values
No full textManagerial positions involve influencing others, hence the importance of studying the standards guiding managers' attitudes, decisions, and behavior. Drawing on structural theories and psychological findings on the effects of subjective social status, we predict that holding a managerial position is related to individual value structure via self-perceived social rank of those in managerial positions. We argue that holding a managerial position is associated positively with prioritizing values reflecting personal focus (self-enhancement and openness to change value types) and, as a consequence, negatively with prioritizing values reflecting social focus (self-transcendence and conservation value types). Using data from the European Social Survey 2012 (N = 48,105) from 29 countries, we found a mediating effect of subjective social status between holding a managerial position and personal versus social focus not moderated by the country context. We discuss the implications of these findings for psychological theories of social hierarchy and managerial practice
Beyond the Features: The Role of Consistency in Impressions of Trust
No full textTo be successful in social life, perceivers need to form impressions of other people's trustworthiness. Current models of this process emphasize the role of specific descriptive content–individual verbal and visual features determining trust impressions. In contrast, we describe three lines of our research showing that trust impressions also depend on consistency–a sense of fit–between features. The first line demonstrates that consistency of brief verbal characterizations increases trust judgments. The second line shows that trust judgments and behaviors are boosted by incidental consistency between the foreground and background of visual scenes. The third line observes that consistency between facial features enhances impressions of trustworthiness. In all these studies, consistency (measured via subjective ratings, reaction times, and physiological measures) positively and uniquely predicted trust judgments. Overall, our results, and related findings, show that trust impressions are not a simple sum of the contributing parts, but reflect a “gestalt.” We theoretically locate these findings in frameworks emphasizing the role of fluency, predictive coding, and coherence in social cognition
Rape Myth Acceptance is Lower and Predicts Harsher Evaluations of Rape Among Impacted People
No full textPublic reactions to rape are often distorted by the acceptance of so-called rape myths. The goal of our research was to examine how rape myth acceptance (RMA) is connected to the evaluation of rape cases among survivors, unimpacted people, and those impacted by rape through a close relation, who can potentially be important allies of survivors in bringing about social change. We tested these connections in three online survey studies. In Study 1 (N = 758) we found that those impacted by rape personally or through a close relation accepted rape myths less. In Study 2, using a nationally representative sample in Hungary (N = 1007), we tested whether RMA predicted uncertain rape cases more strongly than certain (i.e., stereotypical) ones, considering that a stereotypical rape scenario is condemned by most members of society, but not all rape is labeled as such. We found that RMA predicted the evaluation of both rape scenarios, but the prediction was stronger when rape was uncertain. In Study 3 (N = 384), in a pre-registered study we examined how RMA predicted the evaluation of rape cases amongst people with different previous experiences (impacted/unimpacted). We found that unimpacted people accepted rape myths more, blamed the victim more and labeled the case less as rape when the case was uncertain. These findings suggest that rape myth acceptance functions as cognitive schema and that rape impacted people could have a key role not only in the life of survivors but as allies for social change as well
Determinants of Adoption and Rejection of Protective Measures During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study in Germany’s Second Wave
No full textThe adoption and acceptance of protective measures are crucial for containing the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In a recent article in this journal, Dohle et al. (https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.4315) investigated the influence of risk perceptions and trust in politics and science on those constructs in March/April 2020. Since then, the pandemic has undergone several dynamic changes. We analyzed longitudinal data (N = 800) to investigate whether trust and risk were relevant predictors for pandemic measures at a later stage (October 2020/January 2021). The concept of risk perception was supplemented by risk attitude and affective risk to produce a more comprehensive picture of the risk component. We found that greater trust in science at time point 1 predicted less rejection and more adoption of measures at time point 2. Moreover, trust in politics predicted less rejection of measures. From all aspects of cognitive risk perception, only higher severity predicted lower rejection. All other cognitive aspects were non-significant. However, affective risk was shown to be a major predictor: the more the coronavirus was perceived as frightening and worrisome, the lower the rejection and more frequent the adoption of measures. Also, the higher the risk attitude related to health topics, the less frequent the implementation of measures. We replicated the analysis with predictors from time point 2 and deviations are discussed. Our results indicate that affective risk and general attitude toward health risk are more predictive of taking up measures in the context of COVID-19 than cognitive risk
Dominant Jerks: People Infer Dominance From the Utterance of Challenging and Offensive Statements
No full textCould there be upsides to rudely challenging people’s positions? If no one calls out the speaker of a challenging or offensive statement, it might be because the audience is afraid to challenge the speaker, thereby suggesting the speaker holds a dominant position. In two experiments (N = 635), participants read vignettes in which a speaker uttered a statement that was challenging (it directly clashed with the audience’s prior views) or unchallenging (it agreed with the audience’s prior views). We also manipulated whether the audience accepted or rejected the statement after it was uttered. In Experiment 1 the statements were about mundane topics, while in Experiment 2 the statements were offensive. In both experiments, speakers uttering challenging statements that the audience nonetheless accepted were deemed more dominant and more likely to be the boss of the audience members. This shows that people use audience reactions to challenging statements to infer dominance, and suggests that people might use the utterance of challenging statements to demonstrate their dominance