British Journal of Social Psychology

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12548pmid: N/A

Fluit, Anne‐Marie; Martinović, Borja; Verkuyten, Maykel; Zhou, Siyuan

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12624pmid: 36727663

Positive intergroup relations are shown to be related to the perception that, despite mutual differences, all subgroups are indispensable for the identity or functioning of the overall society. Yet, so far, the research on identity and functional indispensability is concerned with minorities that strive for inclusion in the larger nation‐state (e.g., immigrants). In contrast, we examined the roles of identity and functional indispensability in the context of separatist movements. In Study 1 (N = 397), we found that Han Chinese' perceptions of identity and functional indispensability of Tibetans and Uyghurs were associated with higher willingness to engage in collective action against these groups' separatist movements. We replicated these findings in Study 2a and 2b among a diverse sample of the Dutch concerning the Brexit (N = 378) and Frexit (N = 279). In experimental Study 3, again among the Dutch (N = 405), we found that indispensability increased anti‐Frexit action intentions. We conclude that, in the context of separatist movements, perceived indispensability can make attitudes towards separatist movements more antagonistic. The findings contribute to a better understanding of intergroup relations when subgroups' interests clash.

Frenzel, Svenja B.; Junker, Nina M.; Häusser, Jan A.; Erkens, Valerie A.; van Dick, Rolf

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12588pmid: 36263887

Team identification is associated with less exhaustion and disengagement through more social support and higher collective self‐efficacy. However, previous studies did not distinguish between emotional and instrumental support, even though both forms of support may relate differently to collective self‐efficacy. By distinguishing between both support forms, we expected an indirect effect―the ‘supportive structure’ mechanism―of team identification on burnout mediated via emotional support. For a second mechanism―the ‘supportive action’ mechanism―we expected an indirect effect serially mediated by instrumental support and collective self‐efficacy. We tested our hypotheses among NT1 = 567 employees in a four‐wave study with 3‐month time lags between measurement points. Partially in line with our expectations, emotional support (T2) mediated the relation between team identification (T1) and disengagement (T4), but not emotional exhaustion (T4). Moreover, as expected, the results showed an indirect association between team identification (T1) and emotional exhaustion and disengagement (T4) via instrumental support (T2) and collective self‐efficacy (T3). Accordingly, employees benefit from both support forms but through different mechanisms. We discuss our findings and implications for future research.

Pownall, Madeleine; Conner, Mark; Hutter, Russell R. C.

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12587pmid: 36250955

The Stereotype Content Model proposes that social stereotypes broadly exist along two dimensions: warmth and competence. This framework has been used to investigate the contents of stereotypes of gendered groups in a range of contexts. However, it has not been extensively applied to perceptions of pregnant women. This is important, given how pregnant women are typically framed by society to have ‘baby brain’ or reduced competence. Therefore, we investigated the contents of social stereotypes of pregnant women. In Study 1, participants (N = 590) rated a target group (pregnant women) and thirteen other comparison groups on perceptions of warmth (compassion, empathy and comfort) and competence (mathematics ability, logic and memory). Pregnant women were generally stereotyped to have low competence and high warmth, relative to other groups. Study 2 (N = 54) then descriptively investigated the wider contents of stereotypes related to pregnant women, new mothers, men and women using a trait generation task. Generated traits were coded within the dimensions of warmth and competence. This showed, again, that pregnant women were assigned traits related to warmth and poor competence. Taken together, these studies confirmed that perceptions of low competence and ‘baby brain’ in pregnancy is broadly held by a non‐pregnant sample.

Tan, Huibang; Jiang, Tianxiang; Ma, Ning

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12589pmid: 36239240

Gossip, sharing information about an absent person, is an important way of spreading reputational information, crucial in fostering human cooperation. However, why should information possessors engage in gossip, and why should they be honest? We addressed this question based on a reputational account. In study 1, we found that when observed by potential investors, people were willing to pay more to share reputational information with those in need. Moreover, engaging in gossip did confer reputational benefits for gossipers by receiving more trust from investors, and gossipers' willingness to gossip predicted their subsequent trustworthiness. Study 2 further verified that observability promoted only honest information sharing and deterred dishonest gossiping. Consistently, only honest gossipers were trusted more, while dishonest gossipers were perceived to be even less trustworthy than non‐gossipers, and only the motivation for honest gossiping could reflect gossipers' trustworthiness. These findings suggest that reputation can provide a solution to encourage gossiping and secure honesty.

Hu, Chao S.; Zhang, Haotian; Munroe, Melanie; Huang, Chengli; Cao, Yanan; Yan, Jing; Chen, Zhaohui; Ling, Yibao

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12590pmid: 36266767

Previous research suggests that receiving a charity donation could induce gratitude but threaten self‐esteem. We investigated if peer charity donations from typical children benefit or harm the mental health of their left‐behind children (LBC) classmates. We recruited children at a school (i.e., intervened school) that organized peer charity donations every semester and three typical schools (i.e., non‐intervened school) without such intervention in China. Participants completed the gratitude, self‐esteem, depression, and social anxiety scales. A statistical toolbox, “Matchit”, randomly selected 420 children aged 9–13 (220 females, 200 males, 213 LBC, 207 non‐LBC); there was no significant difference in left‐behind status, age, gender, or family economic status (all p > .10) between the intervened and non‐intervened groups (210 per group). Structural equation model analyses revealed that gratitude was associated with higher self‐esteem, lower social anxiety, and lower depression. Moreover, the intervention effect on self‐esteem was significantly positive among the LBC recipients and non‐LBC donors. The interaction between intervention and left‐behind status was significant on gratitude and depression. Specifically, the intervention effect was not significant on gratitude or depression among the LBC but was significantly negative on gratitude and depression among the non‐LBC. Peer charity donation may increase self‐esteem among children (recipients or donors) via increased social connection or satisfaction of basic needs, yet decreased gratitude among the donors due to the “moral licensing effect”.

Rivera Pichardo, Eduardo J.; Vargas Salfate, Salvador; Knowles, Eric D.

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12591pmid: 36281690

Among Puerto Ricans, support for U.S. statehood (i.e. the complete annexation of Puerto Rico as the 51st state of the United States) has been linked to an internalized sense of inferiority, colonial system justification and political conservatism. However, no research has explored this question from the perspective of U.S. Americans. We analyse the role that the dual colonial ideologies of historical negation (of colonial injustices) and symbolic exclusion (of the colonial subjects) have in explaining support for Puerto Rico's statehood and other political status options for Puerto Rico among U.S. Americans, applying a decolonial adaptation of the Dark Duo Model of Post‐Colonial Ideology (DDM). Confirmatory factor analyses validate the factor structure of our adaptation of the DDM scale in an MTurk sample (N = 435) and two student samples (N = 578; N = 381). Latent profile analyses uncover two distinct ideological groups that tend to support Puerto Rican statehood: a ‘pro‐egalitarian’ group committed to both cultural inclusion and material aid for Puerto Rico and a ‘neo‐colonial’ group equally open to cultural inclusion but opposed to material aid. We discuss how symbolic cultural politics, not an egalitarian commitment to material aid aimed at redressing colonial injustices, underlie support for the annexation of Puerto Rico among a significant group of U.S. Americans.

Gloster, Andrew T.; Rinner, Marcia T. B.; Haller, Elisa; Hoyer, Jürgen; Mikoteit, Thorsten; Imboden, Christian; Hatzinger, Martin; Bader, Klaus; Miché, Marcel; Lieb, Roselind; Meyer, Andrea H.

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12593

Troll, Eve Sarah; Friese, Malte; Loschelder, David D.

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12594pmid: 36329599

Exerting effort in a first task can impair self‐control performance in a subsequent task. Hundreds of studies have examined this ego depletion effect, but the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. By contrasting the two most prominent models, the strength model and the process model, the following question takes centre stage: Do participants fail to exert self‐control because they run short of an unspecified resource or because they lack the motivation to engage in the subsequent task? We contrasted competing predictions (N = 560) from these two models by manipulating monetary incentives to be donated to charity in the first of two tasks. We found evidence of the standard ego depletion effect—self‐control performance was impaired after a high‐ versus a low‐demand task in the no‐incentive conditions. Incentives had an unexpected effect: Whereas participants in the incentive conditions showed higher intrinsic, autonomous motivation, they did not exert greater effort. This unexpected finding limited the applicability of our registered predictions; thus, we opted to test updated predictions. We discuss the theoretical implications of our understanding of the processes underlying ego depletion effects and their meaning for the ongoing debate about replicability and robustness.

Leota, Josh; Simpson, David; Mazidi, Daniel; Nash, Kyle

doi: 10.1111/bjso.12596pmid: 36344880

There is considerable research showing that economic threat influences people's social and political views. There are two prevailing perspectives on threat and political attitudes, broadly defined as the Conservative Shift Hypothesis and the Entrenching Hypothesis. The former predicts that threat induces change in the conservative direction (for both conservatives and liberals), whereas the latter predicts that threat causes people to adhere more strongly to their prexisting political perspective. In two experimental studies (one pre‐registered replication), we find evidence in support of the Entrenching Hypothesis. Conservatives responded to Economic Threat with increased endorsement of the conservative moral foundation Purity, whereas liberals responded to Economic Threat with decreased endorsement of the Purity foundation. Economic Threat appears to increase commitment to one's pre‐existing political ideology and not conservatism specifically. Implications for psychological theory and future directions are discussed.