British Journal of Social Psychology

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12465pmid: N/A

Felig, Roxanne N.; Jordan, Jessica A.; Shepard, Samantha L.; Courtney, Emily P.; Goldenberg, Jamie L.; Roberts, Tomi‐Ann

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12489pmid: 34346518

Self‐objectification, the internalization of an observer’s appearance‐based perspective of one’s body, has been theorized and demonstrated to reduce body awareness among women. In this field study, we propose self‐objectification as the mechanism to explain the oft‐observed phenomenon where women wearing little clothing appear unbothered by cold weather, positing that self‐objectification obstructs women’s feelings of cold. We surveyed women outside nightclubs on cold nights, assessed self‐objectification, and asked participants to report how cold they felt. Anonymous photos were taken and coded for amount of skin exposure. We hypothesized that self‐objectification would moderate the relationship between clothing coverage and reports of feeling cold. Our hypothesis was supported: women low in self‐objectification showed a positive, intuitive, relationship between skin exposure and perceptions of coldness, but women more highly focused on their appearance did not feel colder when wearing less clothing. These findings offer support for the relationship between self‐objectification and awareness of bodily sensations in the context of a naturalistic setting. We discuss implications of these findings, and also consider limitations, an alternative explanation, and directions for future research.

Verkuyten, Maykel; Schlette, Anniek; Adelman, Levi; Yogeeswaran, Kumar

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12491pmid: 34390009

Disapproval of others’ beliefs and practices is an inevitable consequence of living with diversity, and the ability to tolerate, or put up with, these differences is crucial to maintain a functional society. Considering reasons to condone what one disapproves of is considered a key aspect of tolerance. Across three national samples (N = 1,708), the current research examines how recognizing arguments to support practices that one disapproves of increases tolerance. Studies 1–2 demonstrate that when participants generate arguments to support Muslim minority practices (Study 1) and Orthodox Protestant minority practices (Study 2), they disapprove of, they show increased tolerance towards such practices in society. In Study 3, the importance of considerations is experimentally extended by demonstrating that perceiving objectionable behaviour as more reasonable increases tolerance. Collectively, these studies demonstrate the importance of engaging in and perceiving reasonable considerations to enhance tolerance of dissenting beliefs or practices.

Long, Anson E.; Pinel, Elizabeth C.; Daily, Jeff R.; Costello, Abby E.

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12492pmid: 34505293

People exhibit a strong need for belief validation, which they meet by sharing reality with others. Here, we examine the hypothesis that existential isolation – feeling alone in one’s experiences – interferes with people’s ability to share reality and thus achieve validation for their beliefs. In Studies 1 and 2, participants read a scenario that presented a choice, rated the percent of their peers whom they thought would select each of the two options, and then reported their own choice and their certainty of it. Existential isolation was a significant negative predictor of expected agreement and certainty in both studies. Interpersonal isolation (i.e., loneliness) did not relate to either of these variables. Moreover, mediational analyses from Study 2 show that expected agreement mediated the relationship between existential isolation and certainty in the hypothesized manner: existential isolation predicted high levels of uncertainty because people high in existential isolation tended not to believe that others would make the same choice. In Study 3, existential isolation correlated negatively with expected agreement even after controlling for interpersonal isolation, self‐esteem, and depression. The findings attest to the epistemic implications of existential isolation and provide insight for future research.

Gheorghiu, Mirona; Pehrson, Samuel; Christ, Oliver

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12493pmid: 34453448

Immigration has been a prominent political issue for decades, but particularly so with rising national populism. To understand current anti‐immigration opinion, we turn to the concept of relative deprivation, which, we argue, is fundamentally about entitlement and is at the heart of popular backlash against immigration. Examining the United Kingdom context, we predicted that immigration attitudes would be contingent on immigrant group status, with immigrants from low‐status or poorer countries (Poland, India) more likely to be perceived as encroaching on the majority group’s entitlements than those from high‐status or richer countries (Germany, Australia). We further proposed moral devaluation (dehumanization and distrust) as a novel mechanism (over and above prejudice) underlying the conditional effects of relative deprivation on support for formal (anti‐immigration policies) and informal (hate crime) means of immigrant exclusion. A pilot study (n = 245) and cross‐sectional survey (n = 490) results supported our main prediction that status matters: participants felt more deprived relative to low‐ than high‐status immigrants, and this predicted stronger support for anti‐immigration policies both directly and through higher distrust (but not dehumanization). This research highlights the need to unpack the generic ‘immigrant’ category and study anti‐immigration sentiment in terms of group status and moral devaluation.

Marchlewska, Marta; Green, Ricky; Cichocka, Aleksandra; Molenda, Zuzanna; Douglas, Karen M.

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12494pmid: 34462919

Eskelinen, Viivi; Renvik, Tuuli Anna; Pauha, Teemu; Jetten, Jolanda; Kunst, Jonas; Noll, Jolanda; Rohmann, Anette; Jasinskaja‐Lahti, Inga

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12496pmid: 34455602

It is often assumed that, in Western societies, Christian values are embedded in national identities, yet, the association between religious identities and prejudice has seldom been studied in parallel to national identity. According to both the social identity theory approach and integrated threat theory, group identification is important for perceiving threats and expressing corresponding attitudes. Nevertheless, their independent roles on intergroup outcomes have often been ignored, although they are two of the most salient and important identities when considering support for religious minority rights. We address this gap in research by looking at the associations of religious identity with support for religious minority rights in general and Muslims in particular in parallel to national identity through diversity threat. This study was conducted among the members of majority groups in four Western countries: Australia, Finland, Germany, and Norway (N = 1,532), all of which are characterised as traditionally Christian. We found that a higher religious identification was associated with greater support for religious minority rights in general and for those of Muslims in particular, while national identification had no direct association with support for either groups’ religious rights. However, both group identifications were also associated with heightened perceived diversity threat, which in turn, predicted reluctance to support religious minority rights. This demonstrates the dual role that religious identities may play in intergroup relations.

Storz, Nora; Martinović, Borja; Maloku, Edona; Žeželj, Iris

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12497pmid: 34498749

Territorial ownership claims are central to many interethnic conflicts and can constitute an obstacle to conflict resolution and reconciliation. However, people in conflict areas might also have a perception that the territory simultaneously belongs to one’s ingroup and the rival outgroup. We expected such perceptions of shared ownership to be related to higher reconciliation intentions. We examined this expectation in relation to the territory of Kosovo among random national samples of Albanians and Serbs from Kosovo, and Serbs from Serbia (Study 1, total N = 995). In general, participants perceived low levels of shared ownership, however, shared ownership perceptions were positively related to reconciliation intentions in Kosovo. In Study 2 (total N = 375), we experimentally manipulated shared ownership (vs. ingroup ownership) and found that shared ownership elicited stronger reconciliation intentions. It is concluded that fostering a sense of shared ownership can be important for improving intergroup relations in post‐conflict settings.

Lee, Chun‐Chia; Wu, Hui‐Ju; Chiou, Wen‐Bin

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12498pmid: 34510481

Social distance regulations have been widely implemented to control the global COVID‐19 pandemic. Individuals have thus been experiencing social pain through social distance regulations. Prior research has shown that social and physical pains share a common neural alarm system. Hence, COVID‐19 social distancing should enhance sensitivity to physical pain. Two laboratory studies were conducted to test the spillover effect of COVID‐19 social distancing on physical pain. The findings supported our hypothesis by showing that participants who were reminded of COVID‐19 social distancing reported a higher level of pain perception in response to immersion in hot water (Experiment 1, N = 102) and expressed a lower pain threshold measured by a pressure algometer than did those of controls (Experiment 2, N = 140). This may be the first experimental evidence demonstrating that people primed with COVID‐19 social distancing have increased sensitivity to physical pain. Our findings suggest that people might be more likely to experience physical pain under the impact of COVID‐19 social distancing. The association between a heightened sense of social disconnection in a global pandemic and increased sensitivity to physical pain should receive more attention.

Marchlewska, Marta; Cichocka, Aleksandra; Furman, Aleksandra; Cislak, Aleksandra

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12499pmid: 34532869

Support for democracy is based on warmth, inclusiveness, and a general belief that others are well‐intentioned. It is also related to a willingness to respect the rights of outgroups which do not necessarily share the views of one’s ingroup. In this research, we analysed the relationships between different types of national identity and support for democracy. In two surveys (Study 1; American participants, n = 407 and Study 2; Polish participants; n = 570), we found that support for democracy was negatively linked to collective narcissism, measured in relation to the national group, previously associated with negative intra‐ and inter‐group outcomes. The effect of national narcissism on democracy support was present even when accounting for national identification. In Study 2, we also found that this effect was mediated by social cynicism – a negative view of human nature. In both studies, support for democracy was positively linked to a secure national identity, that is national identification without the narcissistic component, which tends to be associated with positive attitudes towards others. We discuss implications for understanding the role of national identity in support for (il)liberal politics.